Colors of High School
by Blade Wolf98
Summary: Have you ever lived a grey life? Just living because death is a crappier option? What if eight new people just happened to show up to your school? In this story, the protagonist learns, maybe High School isn't so bad. He might even meet a few lovers along the way. Forgive the boring descriptions of the characters at the beginning. Enjoy my first crappy fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Nothing makes sense since recent events. I've found something precious that I don't want to let go of. But as all stories end, they must also begin.

Life was boring, grey if you could call it. People going on about their everyday stupidity while I watched from the sidelines. Judging me under their breaths thinking I can't hear them. It's funny really, they all look at me like I'm some sort of freak, a monster to society. For a while I believed it, until the day I met a girl who taught me to smile.

It was an average day if you could call it that, being the first day of freshmen year and all. Living in a small town, there are a dozen empty desks in each classroom. Until some new people moved to our town. Eight to be exact, each of them looking rather odd, odder than me in fact.

One of them had short lilac hair reaching her shoulders, along with two hair clips in the shape of D-pads. Her outfit seemed to only be a hoodie with two large X's towards the bottom with a big N on the zipper, as well as the strings resembling plugs. Long purple and white socks were very noticeable on her as well, her face however, appeared childish. Her eyes were a shade of purple to match her hair, that seemed unnatural, but I was sleep deprived, so I passed it off as hallucination.

The next one had long black hair tide in pigtails, a very elegant dress which is way too complicated to explain the details, but I will add it exposed her ample bosom rather well, and shin high boots. She kept flipping back one of the pigtails while her eyes were closed as if gloating about something. She then opened her eyes to reveal that they were a dark shade of red, pretty cute if you ask me, but still passing off as a hallucination.

After that one, another girl caught my eye. This one had light chestnut hair which reached to about her shoulders. Her outfit consisted of what looked like a tank-top that was either white or really light blue. In the center of the top was a brown design of some sort. Connecting was a skirt sharing the same design. On her sides, she was wearing a coat, but slightly holding it down. Her most apparent article on her was a hat that just made you think of Russia when you look at it. Her face was like mine, not cracking a smile, just emotionless and bare as mine. Other than the black haired girl, she had little to know breast tissue, I could tell she'd hate the whores in school.

The fourth girl that entered was, a different type of girl. This one had blonde hair that was tied up in some spots. Here clothes consisted of a medieval style dress with what looked like a plastic layer over the cleavage as if trying to bring more attention to it. The color that was most present on the dress was green. She was also wearing white high-heeled boots to add to her "complexion". Her eyes were a dark shade of blue, this was the fourth one who had unnatural colors, I should consider seeing a psychologist about this.

As soon as I thought it was done, yet another girl walked through the main door. This one shared the lilac hair as the first girl, and the eye color as well. Her socks were also similar as well, going almost all the way up her legs. Her outfit was a white dress with purple lining on some areas. An ascot that was yellow with the same big N symbol below it. Her hair was also noticeably longer than the other purple themed girl, being almost at her waist. Compared to the other girl, this one seemed to be more mature.

Alongside here was a girl who resembled the second girl this time. Her hair was the same shade of black, as well as the same pigtails style. This one is just shorter in length, and tied up tighter. Her outfit was just one word, black. More than 80% of her dress was black with silver lining. Her shoes were no different either, I could already tell this girl has some insecurity issues. Her eyes much like the second girls' eyes, they were dark red. And just like the other girl, she's pretty cute as well.

The final girl, or should I say two were twins as far as I could tell. Both had a light chestnut hair like the third girl. This was starting to become a pattern, they were sisters to the other girls. These two also had hazel colored eyes. As well as grey dresses, with a ribbon one pink and one blue. Their hair lengths were also different, the pink ribbon girl's was longer than the blue ribbon one.

After seeing these eight girls, I thought that maybe, just maybe I wouldn't be so lonely anymore. One day in my High School career, I would become friends with them. Now that the boring explanation is out of the way, the story can really begin.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After that whole endeavor, I looked at the clock in the main hall and found I only have five-minutes to get to my first class. "Oh shit I can't be late to class on the first day!" That was the last thought going through my mind before my legs just began to run. It was like I was Sonic in one of his games back when a Sega console was relevant. Never before in my entire life had I run so fast, I completely forgot where I was going for a brief moment until I calmed my mind and slowed down. Luckily I was just around the door I needed to get to. I looked at the classroom clock, 3-minutes until class. "I can't believe I ran so fast… and for nothing. Sigh." After that almost panic attack, I plopped down in a chair towards the back of the room as any freak should. Looks like it was going to be yet another year where I had my own corner of the room. Until… an all too familiar group of people entered the room.

"Wow! This looks like a super duper tubular classroom!" Said the lilac haired girl.

"Sis, try not to be so loud. Some of our classmates might not like it" Commented the mature lilac haired girl.

"Agreed" Tuned in the rest of the girls.

"Ah! All the front seats are taken, looks like there's plenty of seats by that guy though. Let's sit over there."

I can only assume they're talking about me, I'm all alone here after all. But you know what they say about assuming, it makes an ass out of you and me (Ass-u-me). After that comical thought all eight decided to sit in the desks neighboring mine. It's kind of weird, this is the first time I've been close to another person not related in years. Part of me wants to socialize, another part wants to stay secluded. This is one of those fabled High School conflicts my older brother told me about. But before I could debate this any further, a friendly voice calls to me, as well as gets too close for comfort.

"Hell~~o, how ya doing? What's your name? Why do you look so sad?" I've never met someone as… annoying? Nosey? Personal?

Why do I feel so weird right now? I've never met this girl and yet I feel like I want to get to know her. "No" I thought. I haven't had any friends for years, and I don't need them now. What if it's a good thing though? What if it's something that could make High School not so bad? I don't know anymore, years of seclusion and one sentence from a stranger and I'm suddenly doubting my lifestyle. What has life come to now?

"Why is he just staring out into nowhere? Is he a zombie or something? EEEH! No you can't much on my hot bod!"

*Smack!* "Honestly Neptune, how dumb can you be at times? If he was a zombie we'd all be dead." Said the girl with the long black hair.

So Neptune is the clumsy ones name, I'll have to remember that for later, I think I'll give this whole trying to get friends thing a try.

"Sorry… for the delay… that is. People don't talk… to me at all." Well… that's out of the way. I think my heart rate went up about fifty beats.

"AH! IT LIVES!" I swear I think I made the worst decision of life so far.

"You idiot, I told you already he's not a zombie. How hard is it to use your brain?"

"Sis, you should really be more respectful of others."

"Yeah… he looks… sad. Be… nicer to him." The chestnut short haired girl finally spoke.

"Don't be such a bully to him, that's so little kidish." The chestnut long haired girl spoke immediately after her.

"Don't pester him if he's a little odd, you're not exactly normal yourself Neptune." The younger looking red eyed girl spoke.

"Calm yourselves, he just needs a womanly touch." The blonde was the next to speak. As she said that, she bounced her boobs as to assert dominance also while smiling devilishly.

"Calm your ass thunder tits, he doesn't want to be brainwashed by those cancerous growth mounds." The taller chestnut short haired girl spoke up. This was getting ridiculous about the amount of comments.

I don't know where this next burst came from, it just happened for some odd reason. As if a spirit just so happened to pass through my body. "She was just… trying to be friendly." I honestly have no idea what got into me at that moment. I think I just had a hunger, a hunger to change my secluded ways.

"So, can I… know your names?"

"Sure! I'm Neptune, that's Noire, Blanc, Vert, Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram."

Ok, so the girl with long black hair is Noire, the girl with chestnut hair is Blanc, "Thunder Tits" is Vert. The long lilac haired girl is Nepgear, the other black haired girl is Uni, and the twins are Rom and Ram.

"So, can we know your name?" Neptune asks.

"Yeah… Jack, my name is Jack."

With that remark, class began. These girls, there's more to them than they let on. For now, I'll just go with it. Hopefully, it'll turn out alright, better than anything I've ever done.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: Terribly sorry about these ungodly short chapters. I'm just an amateur writer, and that's being gracious. I really will try to write more fulsome chapters to entertain a reader. On another note, review the story so I can have input and get better. I only want to get better, for yours, and my sake. Thanks and have a great day.**

After the first class a.k.a. Algebra 1, for the most part of the class it was just the introduction day. The entire class was just spent with students regrouping with each other. For me on the other hand, it was spent trying to be friendly. Years of being anti-social have rendered me quite useless. Turns out though, we have a lot in common. It appears that all of them enjoy anime, Noire not showing it very much. As well as video games. Again, Noire not showing it very well. Quiet as I was, they seemed to enjoy my presence for some reason, even if I spent my whole life studying them, I still wouldn't be able to understand them. But something keeps bugging me though, they're all new, and all from separate families minus the sisters. Yet they know each other, strange, but I'll let it go… for now.

As I left class, or should I say we, since my new "friends" followed me, I kept wondering how many classes I had with each one. My next class was an Ap class, why in god's name did I sign up for that class? Turns out all eight of them had the same class with me for my second class. Ok, it's just a coincidence that this class is with all eight of them. I'll be scared shitless if I have all my classes with all of them. That would be just terrible, having all classes with Neptune, I think I'd kill myself if that happened.

For now in second hour, we sit in another abandon corner of desks. All is surprisingly quiet with them. Until Nepgear noticed the corner of a small box sticking out of my messenger bag. The box was red, it had the picture of a Minotaur looking being holding an axe on it. I was staring off into space at the time, pondering why the hell they suddenly wanted to talk to me. Nepgear thought that I wouldn't notice if she held it for a bit. She picked it up slowly as if to not disturb me. Once it was in her hand, she began to examine the small box, having a clue of what it was, but not quite sure. At this time I was just starting to get back to earth from my otherworldly journey.

"Hey! Why do you have that!?" I asked in mostly surprise.

"Goodness, I'm sorry, I got curious and decided to pick it up and… and…" Nepgear is sobbing and if you look closely, there are some tears coming from her eyes.

"Sorry for acting out like that, I just don't like people touching that. It's a thing that's very important to me."

"OOO, do tell us the tale of this oh powerful box." Neptune decided to pitch in with a sly grin on her face.

"If he doesn't want to talk about it he doesn't have to." Blanc said rather emotionless.

It's strange, Blanc is more like me than I thought. From what I've seen so far, she doesn't show her emotions well. I'm not one for having emotions anyway, which is great since now I have someone I can truly be at home with.

Neptune on the other hand, is a different color in the crayon box. My polar opposite, being so hyperactive and in everyone's business. She's my kryptonite, but I think I'll be able to tolerate her. Other than that, she doesn't know when to shut up. Every time I think about it, she's talking on and on about this and that which is rather unsettling.

"Nah, I think it's time… I tell someone about myself."

As I say that, all eight girls gather around me as if children gathering for story time. I'm a little worried about Rom and Ram if they hear this. How old are they anyway? I know for a fact that they aren't my age, but why are they in high school? Oh well, might as well ruin them at an early age.

"Where to start? Well I guess it started back in second grade. Back then I was completely different than I am now. Happy and loved to learn new things, not a single care in the world. And my best friend, Blake. We'd been best friends since birth basically, we did everything together. That is until the day he passed. He was in a car accident on July 14th, and he just died very early." At this point, I'm crying due to the memories. "It gets even better than that, not long after, my mom was taken away due to not being fit to take care of me and my brother. It was hard, I never paid much attention to her drinking until then. Ever since then, I seclude myself in my room, and never go outside hardly. Two tragedies happened in a month, I was left shattered. Until… I discovered something that truly understood me." I pull cards out of the box. "These card understood me, and reflected my personality, they became my friends. And so, that's my story."

"…" Silence

"I'm sorry" Nepgear's voice is faint, I think I made things worse.

"Jack, I was a crapadoodle to you." Even a sad Neptune sounds funny.

"…" Everyone else was silent, probably thinking I was a freak now.

"Ding, Ding, Ding" The bell just so happened to ring.

Within the first ding, a wave a students flocked out of the room. Even most of the gang left, one remained. I don't know for sure why Nepgear stayed for a little bit with me. Little did I know, soon I'd be more happy than words could ever describe. She just stares at me, while my head is down. My crying comes to a halt as I feel an arm go across my back.

"Ne-Nepgear?" This is one of the more surprising moments in my already fucked up life so far.

"I-I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I made you cry! That I made you think of your past! Please forgive me, I'll never hurt you again!" She then puts another arm around me, this is the first hug I've ever experienced. It feels warm, and makes me want to hug back.

"No, I should thank you. I had to get that off my chest sooner or later, it was killing me. You have nothing to be sorry for." I slowly but surely put my arms around her. More heat coming from this connection. I can feel certain body parts through this hug, it feels not bad, but I feel like a pervert now.

The hug lasted until the warning bell rang. At that point, both our tears dried up and we were feeling better. I don't know what it was, but it was like we've known each other for years if we were to talk about that. I don't know what it was, I've only known them for a few hours and this, and damn I'm desperate. Enough of that, I need to get to class soon so I tell her I'll see her later. "Thanks Nepgear, I needed that."

"Oh, I really wasn't that much of help."

Much like me, she's insecure, this could prove interesting if I can truly understand her fully. For now though, for the first time in many years, I feel… alive. Maybe, just maybe these girls won't be so bad after all. They already got me to open up this much with just a few words, I think deep in my subconscious I wanted this all along. The mind is a funky thing that even I don't understand.

As I walk down the halls to my next class, I noticed a familiar lilac hair girl walking towards me. This can only mean one thing. My next class is with her. And not only that, when I entered the room, the others turned out to be in it as well. There goes my morning and any chance of peace. So far, I enjoy a few of their companies.

"Hello dear" this is the first time Vert has actually spoken to me.

"Hey, I'm ok now, and I think I can be slightly normal with you guys."

"These guys are anything but normal." Said Noire

Through the whole class I was thinking about what happened between Nepgear and I. Whenever her face appeared in my mind I got all warm and fuzzy inside. Even with everyone talking, I decided to get to know the group better. So, I spoke with Rom and Ram first.

"Hey, you're Rom right?" I say with a soft tone.

"Ye-yeah, that's right. It's nice to meet you fully Jack."

"Yeah! And I'm Ram, the pride and joy of everything!"

"I've been meaning to ask, why are you two in High School if you're so young?" Finally able to get that out.

"We-well, it's because…"

"It's because we're super-duper smart, smarter than most people here!"

I can tell already this is going to be a treat. From my observations so far, Rom is quiet, shy, and doesn't talk to people much. Her personality is very similar to mine which isn't so bad, I might actually enjoy her company. Ram on the other hand, isn't shy at all. She'll tell the whole wide world what she's thinking and that kind of scares me. Still, she's nowhere near as bad as Neptune.

"You know… we play that card game too. It's really fun, even more when there's more people." Rom spoke quietly.

"Yeah, me and Rom are the greatest team in the world!" Ram yelled at me.

Wait a minute, these two play Magic? This will be… interesting. For years I've just had a deck, but never played with anyone in real life. It's just been duel of the planeswalkers. But taking on two opponents? I need a teammate, it doesn't matter who. I wonder if any of these girls play.

"Um, I play." Nepgear spoke up. "I have a deck that will provide you with great defense."

Ok, when she says defense, does she mean walls, or just creatures with a high toughness? I don't care anymore, I'll just play. We turn four desks so that Nepgear and I are sitting next to eachother while facing Rom and Ram. Each of us shuffle our decks then set them down to play. After drawing seven cards Ram as expected was the first to speak up.

"All right! Let's get this party started!"

She then puts a blue mana down and plays phantasmal bear. Rom puts a blue down and plays index to see her next moves and set her turns. Our turn came around, nepgear played a blue mana, but didn't have any moves to play. I played a red mana then played spark jolt in order to deal them a damage while I scry. Nothing worth keeping so I put it on the bottom of my deck.

As the next few turns role around the game progressed steadily. A few creatures were played to build defense. From the moves played so far, Ram's deck style involves a lot of overpowering. This is quite troublesome on account of her cheap cost powerful illusions. Their downside is if they get targeted by a spell or ability, they are sacrificed. She stopped this however by playing lord of the unreal, my Middle school nickname. Rom takes a different approach, her style involves countering and defending her twin sisters' creature. This is a deadly combination indeed. I'm only saved by Nepgear's seemingly impenetrable defense, while my deadly Minotaur's are getting in some attacks.

Nepgear then plays Awakening Zone, she'll get Eldrazi spawn tokens. Mana acceleration? What does she need that for? I'll see about what she has in store. She does have quite the number of walls, but also powerful defenders. Enchantments also enhance her creatures to make them deadly attackers as well. She's really good, I'll give her that.

After a couple more turns, Nepgear had an array of spawn tokens, Rom and Ram had us on the ropes, and it looked like we were going to lose. Until… she pulled an unexpected move. … Ulamog the infinite gyre. That move proved to be the turning point. Its annihilator made each of them sacrifice permanents. The overall damage left over caused their life to deplete. We had won the battle, but not the war.

"Aw man! I can't believe we lost." Ram said in a moderately depressed tone

"It's… ok Ram, we can get better"

"That was… fun. The most fun I've in years." I'm talking with a more full voice now. Damn in such little time they've began to crack open my thick shell.

"Here." I pull two cards out of my messenger bag. "Ram, here, have my Phantasmal Image. It'll make your illusions practically invincible when used with lord of the unreal. And Rom, I want you to have my temporal mastery. You'll be able to take an extra turn and build more defense." Both their expressions have taken a turn for the better.

Wow! Really?! Thanks you're the best."

Th-thank you Jack. I'll put it t-to good use."

After they thank me, both hold on to my sides, Ram a little tighter than Rom. I noticed a slight blush on Rom's cheek. I dismissed this as still being slightly sleep deprived. After a few more seconds neither let go. So I just stood there with two very young girls on my side, until a familiar unemotional voice spoke up.

"Let go of him, he looks like he's uncomfortable with this." Blanc said.

"Honestly, it looks rather adorable if you ask me." Vert was the next to speak up.

It's just plain weird if you ask me." Finally Uni has spoken.

I don't know what it is about this group, is it that all their colors are just plain unnatural? Or the fact that I've opened up to them in a matter of hours. This was all getting too weird for me. Before I could ponder this some more, the bell rang.

The same thing happened again, everyone else ran out of class while we just walked out like normal people. That's the weird part of it, these people are anything but normal. As we walk to the next class, a science class, I resume my quiet non talkative state.

As I sat down in an empty desk, in the back of course. I had one thought.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

**A/N: If you're curious about updates, there will be a few updates every two weeks. Maybe sooner depending on my schedule. Anyway, review this story so I can get better at writing. Thanks and see you next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Why am I doing this? Why am I changing at such a rapid pace? I think deep inside, my old personallity never left me. As if this new one is a mask I put on. That makes just as much sense as anything else today. I still have to get to know these girls. But the one thought that's really getting to me right now is.

"Why the hell do we all have fourth hour together?!"

This is the fourth class in a row we all have together, this is starting to get ridiculous. My whole day has been one big what the fuck moment. I can't even get one second of peace around these girls. I think I died long ago and finally god is giving me an eternal punishment. Like I said before, that makes as much sense as anything else today.

Well, might as well get to know a new one, Vert looks like a good option. I walk over to her and she turns around rather quickly, causing her boobs to bounce to the extent that I think I can hear them. My eyes are entranced, I've never been a guy for big hardware so this is just weird. She can see my eyes gazing, this is quite embarrasing to the highest extent. Even through the recent moment, I can make out an opening line to her.

"Uh… He… llo Vert."

"My my you're quite the flattering man."

"Wh… what do mean?" Oh god she's already mind raping me.

At this point my face has made a new shade of red on the color scale. Perhaps I should join art club instead of band if I'm this good with creating colors.

"You clearly admire my maturity and fertility." What is wrong with this chick.

"Yeah… let's go with that."

"Shut your ass thunder tits! Nobody wants to hear about those mounds of fat you're so proud of!" Wow, she really does wear a mask. Even though, I still think she's a lot nicer than she lets on.

"Now now, is that really a way to talk to a mature women? With those things on you, you seem so childish." I never knew Vert could be so cruel.

"You think you're all that?! I don't give a damn about anything else you do, just don't insult my chest!"

"Now girls, let's calm dow… *oomph*" I just got a fist to the face

Everything's going black now, I think this is finally when I die. Well Blake, guess we'll meet up in hell. The last thing I remember is Blanc's fist hitting my face, then the concerned cries of everyone around me. It's getting black all around me, I think I was right, this is my death. Brrr, is the afterlife this chilly? The only feeling I have now is being cold. I knew meeting these girls would bring bad mojo.

It feels like an eternity since I entered this darkness. I actually kind of miss Neptune and the gang. That is until I heard a mysterious voice. I dismissed this as my own mind playing a trick on me. I may have never been unconcious, but I was sure this was a side-effect of it. It wasn't until the damn voice became more persistent. I swear if I could see this person I would kill them.

"Hello… Hello… please respond to my voice." This voice has a way of pissing me off.

"…" I'm not going to respond to my own dilusions.

"Please respond, I have urgent news."

Well, I guess it couldn't hurt.

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Please use a better tone, and thank you for finally responding." She better get to the damn point.

"Ok, now what is it you have to say?"

"You are destined for great things." Pardon me?

"I'm sure you have found it weird of these eight girls suddenly coming here. Well, I'm here to give some clarification." Finally some answers.

It had been bugging me the whole day so far as to how four families could move here all of a sudden. Usually we only get one, two at max then they just move away. And why they are off colored to normal people, perhaps it's just make-up, yeah that's a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"First thing, all of this will be fine. Nothing bad will come of this unless you make it happen that way. Second thing is tha… Zzzzzz"

"Hello? What happened, connection loss?"

As I thought this, I could feel pain. Wait, pain? I was regaining conciousness, someone was hurting me and man did it feel good. I'll kick whoever's responsible ass. But more importantly, I'm curious as to what the second thing was. Oh well, that was probably a dilusion anyway, no need to get worked up over it.

A bright light flashes in my eyes, as soon as they adjust, I can see a familiar lilac haired girl on top of me slapping the shit out of me. I grab her hand and begin to squeeze, I should've known she'd be the one to do this. I give her one of the most menacing looks ever as if to stare into her soul.

"Why? Why are you slapping me?!"

"To get you awake silly." She says that in such a happy tone, I don't think she see's the wrong here.

"Whatever, get off me will you?"

She then begins to pick herself off of me. In doing so, I catch a slight glimpse of her panties. Holding back the embarrasment of seeing them, she doesn't notice the slight blush on my cheek. This is good, she seems like the girl that'd call me a pervert then knock me unconcious again. Noire is the one who offers a hand up. Naturally I take it and begin to lift myself.

"Um, thanks Noire. So far you're one of the only sane ones I've met."

"Uh… uh you're welcome I guess." Why the hesitation? "You're not so bad yourself." She whispers that to herself.

"What was that?"

"No… Nothing at all! Just complimenting myself, I only do everything."

She might not be as sane as I thought, I have no idea what she means. However, I notice the slightest blush on her face. Her cuteness has just increased. Wait what am I thinking? I just met this girl a few hours ago and I'm already thinking she's cute? If I would even want to get with one of them, I'd have to get to know them more. Then again… it's not a bad thing to think about the future.

"Dear, you're alright!"

Vert came running to me, she then takes my head and puts it between her cleavage. This is an awkward expirience, on one hand it does feel nice. These things are soft, fit for a goddess. On the other hand, this seems wrong. I can't help it, they feel so soft that I'm paralyzed. Something tells me all the popular guys will be after her. For the wrong reasons of course, they're all perverts. Then again, I'm kind of being one right now, I'm actually enjoying this cuddling she's giving me. That is… until I run out of breath.

I can't breathe, I knew I was going to die today, I just knew it. One of these girls would be the end of me, I knew it all along. My gasps for air are heard to everyone around me. My feet aren't even on the ground anymore. They're dangling in the air, damn she's strong. I thought I was I going to die, until a stronger force knocked me out of her grasp. It was Blanc, she had almost killed me, then saved me. Guess we're even now.

I hit the cold tile floor with a thud, it feels so good to be able to breathe. I put my hand on my ass as if to relieve the pain somehow. Then am offered a hand again, this time by Uni. She hasn't been very talkative, if anything, Rom has been more active than her. I'll have to see if I can get her more included with this group. I take her hand and pull up. Thank her in the same manner I did her sister then turn to Blanc.

"You trying to kill me?"

"It saved your ass from thunder tits didn't it?" Fair enough.

"Guess I should thank you."

"No, we're even now. Sorry about knocking you out earlier, even if it was for only ten minutes."

At least I hadn't been knocked out for longer. Then I would've missed the bell for sure. There is something unsettleing about how she responds to me. I would think she'd be rubbing in the fact that she saved me. Instead, she's rather calm as if her mask is back. No that's not the case, her doll features aren't showing. She has emotion right now. I will never understand any of these girls. I know I've said that a lot, but it's the truth. God, why did you have to send them to me?

Oh well, rather than give myself a headache, I simply sit down at a desk and put my head down. This little moment of peace is interupted by a voice of the get to know list. Uni is talking to me, why is she. From what I've seen today, she'd be more likely to stay out of the picture.

"Hey, you alright?" she speaks in a soft manner to comfort my mental state.

"I'd be lying if I said yes." I might be an ass, but I'm an honest ass.

"Well, that's good, not that I care or anything. I just can't have someone die in front of me." What is with her? Now I'm more confused than ever.

As she said this to me, the clock struck noon. Time to go to lunch, a time I'm familiar with. Having a circle table all to yourself, people just passing by. Never uttering a word to you. At least this year would be eventful.

I get up from my desk and hit Uni by accident. I didn't mean to, it just happened. "I'm so sorry, please don't knock me out again." I feel like a dog now, begging at the foot of his master when he pisses on the sofa. Hopefully I didn't hurt her too much, if I did, I'd never forgive myself.

"It's alright, just be more careful next time." Thank god she is forgiving. I would've thought for sure she'd run after me trying to kill me. What is up with these girls and their personallity switches?

With that out of the way, I offer Uni a hand and lift her up. When she's standing, we all start walking to the stairwell so we can get some grub. This is strange, all of them look so happy while being with me. Even being the weirdest group of people on the planet, they get along. I've got a long road ahead of me.

After what seemed like hours of walking due to Neptune telling some random story about a "Histy" person, we arrive at the lunch room. As expect, already filled with people. There's only one table left, a circle table, good memories. It can seat twelve, so we should be good. We all go into the line, grab our crappy lunches you never eat and get out.

Uni, Vert, and Neptune had already made it to the table before me. I take a seat and shortly afterwards, Nepgear sits at my right, then Blanc sits at my left. The table now with all of us in it looks like an average table, minus all the weird colors that are unnatural. For the first time eating lunch with someone in years, it's not so bad.

Neptune is going on about some random things that I'll never understand. While the rest of us are just talking about anything that comes up. It's nice really, I think I've been restored to factory default. Finally, I'm being the old me, fun and loves to talk to other people. It's funny how eight girls become my new friends and two nearly kill me makes a guy start to have fun.

I completely got off track and let my hand fall to my side. A few of my fingers accidentally intertwine with a few more fingers. After getting back from la la land, I found out that I touched Nepgear's hand. I was embarrased at that, it didn't feel right. But man is her skin smooth, it's like a goddess' touch. Pulling my hand back, I can see Nepgear has a blush on her face. Her mouth covered by her right hand.

"Whoa, I am terribly sorry about that. Complete accident I promise." Again being a dog.

"I… it's alright, I know you didn't mean to.

She puts her head down, her blush still on her face. Her hands on her heart, and just staring at the mess they call "food." She then shakes her head with her eyes shut closed as well as her mouth. I wonder what's going on in her mind. At this point, she might be more cute than Noire. What the hell am I thinking? They are my friends, if I dated one of them, it'd get weird between all of us. And lord knows what would happen if I ended up happy with one.

Oh shit this is bad, it's like my heart and my brain are two armies fighting. Even though the brain controls the heart, they're separate forces. Perhaps I shall just let events unfold, couldn't be that bad if one of them turned into my girlfriend. They're all ungoddly friendly, just weird. Whatever may happen, I'll face it with a firm kick in the balls and smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**A/N: I hope you like to the story so far. Can you guess which girl Jack will get within the middle of the story? Enjoy this new chapter, and leave a review so I can improve.**

All I can think about is how terrible this food tastes; it's amazing they're allowed to serve this shit. It's nothing more than a mishmash of everything but the kitchen sink. Oh well, at least I now have friends to keep me company through lunch… and my whole morning. It's not bad really, I enjoy their presence, and they've already got me back to my old self mostly. As I said before, it's amazing what eight girls and two near-death experiences can do to a guy.

I look around at all of them; Neptune is jamming out to something on her Iphone of course. Blanc is reading a book trying to block out the noise of the whole lunchroom, good luck with than Blanc. Rom and Ram are awkwardly feeding each other with the less than satisfactory food, Ram mainly doing it. Noire is resting her head on the table; she looks more sleep deprived than I do. Vert is brushing her own hair to make herself more attractive. Finally is Nepgear, Uni, and I are having a conversation about plans for the future.

Nepgear apparently is more of a "hardware" girl than software and wants to invent machines for the good of society someday. Uni wants to be a gun smith, from how she looks; I would've never guessed she likes guns so much. As for me, I just said, "I'm not really sure what I want to do, never gave it much thought.

The bell rang, it was time for our afternoon classes to begin. With my luck, I'll have yet another class with all eight of them. And I was right, all eight of them are in the next class with me. This class is a computer class for the business world, not bad if I must add. It's a decent sized classroom with rows of computers, naturally I take a back seat and they follow me. Again to my left is Blanc and to my right is Nepgear.

For the first day, it's always a free day with a twenty minute introduction. Turning on a computer and signing in I immediately go to my documents folder. In it consists of old school work, a few folders containing anime and other videos. One of my folders says "Poetry" on it. I forgot I had that folder, it's from some darker days of my life, but contains neutral toned poems. This catches the eyes of both Blanc and Nepgear.

"What's with that folder Jack?" Nepgear asks me with the innocent head tilt. I won't deny it, these girls are cute at times.

"Oh this, it's a folder where I keep all my deep emotional poetry, you can read some if you'd like." Wait, do I really want her to read them?

"I'd also like to check these out." Blanc decided to join the party.

The two girls get really close to me to get a good view of the monitor. I feel uncomfortable with them this close. So I just scoot the seat back and tell them to continue without me. I need to be more introduced with some more members of the group. Uni is the last on I believe. She's sitting in the back as we are, just in a different row.

When I come close to her computer, I notice a page with many guns on it. These weapons vary from revolvers, shotguns, and assault rifles. Mental note, don't piss her off, she might kill me.

"You really like guns don't you?"

"Ye… yeah, I don't know why, they just feel natural to me." I think she's going into fangirl mode.

"I actually have a few of these guns at home, hoping to get a few more by the end of the year."Now I'm scared.

"Are these things even legal here?!"

"Some aren't, I won't tell you how I got them though." Well, the FBI is on standby for now.

Slowly tiptoeing away from her as she scrolls down the page, she clicks on a picture of a sweet gun. A Colt Paterson, the greatest five-shot revolver in my opinion. Out of nowhere, and urge to run over there surges through me, so I act on it. She seems surprised at how fast I ran over there to get a closer look at it.

"Whoa, is that a Colt Paterson? That's one of the coolest guns of all time." Ok, I might have been a fangirl at that moment too.

"Hmm, you know your guns, we just might get along. I have this one back at home." She's starting to get a slight blush. "Maybe one day… you could come over… and we could shoot together." Ok, that was weird, just when I thought she was normal. I won't deny she's cute when she's talking like this.

I don't know if any of them like me all that much, maybe they're hanging with me to make themselves look more appealing. It makes sense really, everybody in this school view me as a freak, these girls have a clean record.

That couldn't be the case; they wouldn't know my past or what others think of me. So they just hang out with me on instinct? This is starting to get confusing, I think I have a small headache. Better not over think this, this is the first time in years I have had friends, might not want to fuck this up.

Now that the fangirling is out of the way, time to see what everyone else is up to. From the looks of it, Neptune is doing something I expected of her… online games. A lot of boys are gathering around Vert as if they're moth's around a light, better hope she doesn't go bug zapper on them. Rom and Ram are looking at a new set Magic that just came out. Noire is viewing what looks a page for anime lovers. Now it looks like a shopping site.

"What are you looking at?"

"No… nothing! It's nothing at all! Nope nothing to see here!" Anyone could tell that she's lying, but for now I'll let it slide.

"It's ok, I'm not a guy to judge people unless they judge me."

"Re… Really? Nobody would respect me if they knew." Now my curiosity is peaked.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad. Although with this group of friends, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Th… thanks, for not being nosey I mean. You seem like a nice guy Jack." She's a lot nicer than I thought.

As I look at her, I notice a sparkle like thing in her eyes. She's also slightly blushing. What is with these girls and blushing whenever they talk to me? Again, I am more confused than ever about these girls. I might learn something about them in the future, this is the first day I've known them after all. Something inside me wants the future to happen faster, time just doesn't move fast enough. So many questions I have but time is in my way.

"No… Problem, anyway, whatever it was you were looking at I wouldn't care. A person's hobbies and likes define them. You've been nice to me, I'll see you around I guess." On that remark I go back to check on Nepgear and Blanc. I wonder what they think about those poems.

When I get back to my original seat, Nepgear has a… adorable? Depressed? Positively doesn't make sense look on her face? Blanc has what you would expect, an emotionless, doll like face on. As I take my next step, both turn their heads towards me. I don't know what either of them is thinking right now. Whether it is good or bad, I'll face it head on.

"They were… good to say the least. I really liked the one about how everyday people just walk past you." I can't tell if she likes it or not, at least when she's angry I can tell her thoughts.

Nepgear took a different tune to them, hers may have been the turning point for my day. "Hic… I'm… I'm so sorry." I have no idea what she's apologizing about this time. Something tells me she has self-esteem issues and likes to over apologize. "Th… they were beautiful. Some of the most beautiful poems I've ever read. I'm sorry you went through all of that in your past." Now I see what this is about, she feels guilty already for getting me to tell them about my past. Now she feels even guiltier because these poems describe my every emotion I felt through those years.

"Nepgear" I say in the sternest voice I can muster. "These poems are about my past, I can't rewrite that. At least I can change my future, and you guys will help me do that." Honestly, I'm still kind of bummed by her being bummed. Part of my old personality was when I friend was bummed, I made it a mission to cheer them up. Seeing her on the verge of crying also tugs at my heart a little bit.

"Hic… I… I failed… Hic… you as a friend. I'm just sorry! I'm so sorr… Huh?"

My arms are around her, holding her with everything I have, this is to let her know I can't stand it when people cry.

"Nepgear, don't, you've done nothing wrong to me. If anything, you've been an excellent friend to me in the short while you've known me. Don't go saying you've failed me, you haven't failed me, and I don't think you ever will." Great, now my heart is pouring out. It's way too early to be doing this kind of stuff.

"Jack…" Her voice is faint, she's having an emotional breakdown. Perhaps she's never been treated this way.

She puts her arms around me, returning my tight hug with an even tighter one. Her warmth is comforting my spirit, and I think I'm doing the same for her. This is a precious moment my future will probably thank me for.

"Thank you, I don't know what I was thinking."

As she says that, our hug continues going strong. It feels so natural, it was going fine until a loud scream punctured my ear drums.

"YAHOO! Thud."

A wild Neptune suddenly appeared, knocking me out of my chair along with Nepgear below me. This is awkward, I have Neptune on top of me, and she's a lot heavier than she looks. Then there's Nepgear below me, first time being on top of a girl is unsettling, I can't think straight. I look into her eyes, they're glimmering to add to her cuteness. Her lips are parted, but her teeth are clenched down, forget what I said earlier, she's so cute. If this is what a high school crush is like, then maybe I shouldn't seek the treasure.

Our faces only inches apart, I can feel her hot ragged breaths on my face. It's a nice sensation to be feeling. This is a nice moment we are having, perhaps this will add to my ranking in the future. She then starts to slowly raise her head, is she going to try to give me a kiss? We've only known each other for a day and this? What the hell is happening to my head, I'm slowly moving my head towards hers in the same manner. About two inches separate our faces now, this is about to happen.

"Count me in! *Boing*" Vert has just jumped on top of Neptune.

From her jump, I felt two separate thuds. One was from her body, which again is heavier than she looks. The other being from her boobs, they registered a 0.0000000001 magnitude on the Richter scale. O h god this is painful. But the mob mentality starts to affect everyone.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Ram yelling

"Yay…" Rom quiet as always.

Rom and Ram decide it's a huge dog pile. They aren't that heavy though, so it's not too bad. From the sidelines, I can see Noire, Uni, and Blanc staring at them like they're idiots. Why did Neptune have to ruin that moment we were having? Even if it was just some encouragement, it felt like I was doing something I've always dreamed of… Romance.

Looking at Nepgear, I can see she's in a great deal of pain. Rolling over, the others fall to their sides. Quickly getting off Nepgear, I turn to Neptune giving her a menacing glare. She doesn't care, instead she sticks her tongue out at me and gives an innocent look.

Before I could say anything else, the bell decided to ring. Upon the first ring, Neptune let out a "see ya!" and abandoned us. Next to get up was Vert who surprisingly apologized deeply then left. Ram didn't say anything and just to take a page out of Neptune's book, and run away. Rom on the other hand, took a different approach. She stood up and offered me a hand.

"I'm… sorry. Ram said if I didn't she'd tickle me to death. Please forgive me." She's sincere, I'll give her that. What the hell? I'll let her go… this time.

"It's ok, just don't let Ram control you, and you are your own person after all." I start to pet her head as if to comfort her. Then offer her a handshake. Instead of taking my hand, she thrusts at me and puts her arms around me. This is unexpected, all I wanted was a handshake and I get a hug. As a response I pet her head again then lightly push her as a sign to get off me please. She takes the sign then runs along after her sister.

The only people left in the computer lab are Nepgear, Uni, Noire, Blanc and I. Those are the most "normal" ones of the group in my opinion. They don't just randomly tackle you while giving encouragement to a friend. Instead, these girls would help me.

"Let me guess, you have Band next?"

"How did you know" All tune in with the same surprised expression.

"Just a lucky guess." There's no luck about it, I may already have five classes with all of them. With my luck I knew there would be a sixth.

"Anyway, let's get going, we don't want to be late now do we?"

I get nods from all four of them and we walk out the door. The band room is on the floor below us on the opposite side of the school, so it's quite a walk. It gives us all time to talk though. I tell them all about the band director and how nice he is, as well as how much he likes to have fun. From the looks I'm getting they seem to already like him.

It's also noteworthy that all of them are in band already, so there will be no need for teaching them an instrument later. Blanc is a percussionist, that figures. Noire plays the clarinet, a regal instrument for a regal girl, fitting. Uni plays the bass clarinet, like a clarinet, except considerably larger. Finally Nepgear is a flute player. This is also a fitting match, a graceful instrument for, well, a Nepgear.

"So are Neptune, Vert, Rom, and Ram in band?"

"Not by a long shot, Vert is in culinary class right now. Neptune and Ram are in the art class. And Rom is in the creative writing class." Noire sure knows their schedules. I'm glad though the crazy people, aside from Rom are out of my sixth period.

The band room isn't very full of people, but it is large compared to other rooms. As we walk in, we all get cold chills.

"I forgot to mention, the band room is freezing."

"Anything else you forget to mention?" Noire retorts.

"Now that you mention it, you need band lockers, just pick an empty one and you'll be fine."

To the left of the entrance is the instrument storage room. In it is what you'd expect, instrument lockers. I point to what lockers are designed for certain instruments and explain that they could share a locker. After we get that done with I find our band director Mr. Simmons.

"Hey Mr. Simmons, these are some new band members."

"Ah, they'll make a fine addition to the band program. Do they have lockers yet?" Mr. Simmons asks.

"Yeah, I already told them how it works with the lockers."

"Good, I have nothing left to teach you young grasshopper."

"Huh?" All of them say in unison.

"I told you, Mr. Simmons likes to joke around."

Mr. Simmons simply waves at them and goes back to his office to finish up some band work. Turning around I give them all a look of anticipation.

"Well, it's basically a free day, why not have a game of Magic?" Just a suggestion.

"Sure, I can crush anyone at it." Blanc has a deck?

"Game on."

Taking two music stands and converting them into a battlefield is the first thing that went down in our epic contest. Grabbing two chairs, I set on in front of my stand, and let Blanc sit in the other then push her in like a true gentlemen.

"Thanks…" Why the hell is she blushing at a time like this? We're about to battle.

Taking out a different deck than last time, I begin to shuffle it and offer her to cut it. Surprisingly she declines the cut. To not be rude, I decline her cut offer. After drawing seven cards, the game begins. My turn is first, I lay down a black mana, tap it then play vampire lacerator. Passing turn to Blanc, she puts down a blue mana then passes turn to me. Since her life is above ten, my own creature deals me one damage. "I draw!" Corny I know but a classic. Putting down a red mana, then attacking Blanc directly to put her down to nineteen gives me the edge. Sadly I must pass turn on account of having no moves.

Her turn rolls around, another blue mana she plays. Now I see where Rom and Ram get it. Tapping both of them, she puts down a lord of the unreal. Wait, god, Rom and Ram's decks are two sides of the same coin. Blanc being the coin, that means her deck has both the attack and defense of those decks. Passing turn back to me, I draw hoping to get something good. Sadly the one life loss gets to me. Now our lives are tied, and the game gets all the more interesting. The card I drew though, Human Frailty, the perfect card. This game isn't over, if anything it's only begun. And that Lord of the unreal in my next target.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Blood sheds across the battlefield. Two armies of equal strength constantly trying to overpower the other one. In this corner having a deck of sixty cards, the phantom of the night, the blood sucker. Give it up for the one the only, Jack the Ripper. In this corner, having a deck of forty-five cards. Master of the mind, fake but real. Give it up for the one, the only, White Demon!

The game is tied, both opponents having five life a piece. I have erdwal ripper with no +1/+1 counters on it. Markov Warlord, and Olivia Voldaren. Blanc has Phantasmal image as a lord of the unreal, phantasmal dragon, and phantom warrior out. My turn rolls around, I draw rush of blood. Doubling Olivia's power of four to eight, she has no flying to block. This next attack ends the game as a victory for the vampires.

"Grrr. My deck isn't good enough!" There's the angry Blanc that knocked me out.

"Hey, calm down, here, I actually want to help you get better. I helped your sisters as well when they lost." Reaching into my bag of wonders, poking my fingers around I find what I was looking for. Pulling out a card then placing it on the stand in front of her, she goes from angry to curious in an instant.

"Here, this is a gift, essence backlash and illusionary armor." She holds both cards in her hand then immediately put both in her deck. I can tell she already likes them and will be much stronger with those around.

"Th… thanks for the cards Jack." Even in her soft voice, I detect hints of happiness. What really came as a surprise was when she hugged me. Deciding to go with the flow, I return the hug. After a few seconds, I try to pull away… but Blanc had other plans. While I was letting go, she was holding on. The more I struggled the tighter she grasped. What is with girls hugging me today? Am I really that likable?

Whatever the case, she opened her eyes and looked directly into mine. The sudden glimpse of them caused me to jerk back a little bit. She's looking at me in much the same way Nepgear was looking at me back in the computer lab. This is really getting weird, who's next, Noire?

Two of these looks in one day are very disturbing. The worst part was that we've only known each other for a day. Have they already formed that kind of opinion about me? This already starting to cause me a headache from the thinking. All of this is a lot to take in at once. On the other hand I could just be being a whiney little bitch right now, but I digress.

"Jack…" Why is she calling my name in a soft manner?

"Blanc, you're nice and all, but could you please get off me.

With a simple nod, she releases her tight grip from my torso. It's cold now though, her body heat was rather nice in this frozen room. I wonder how the others are doing right now.

Meanwhile in another classroom, Neptune is making a finger painting. Singing some tune that's inaudible to most while doing it at that. Of course this is causing the other students ears to metaphorically bleed. It is Neptune we are talking about after all. This was her natural state.

Somewhere else in the room Ram had actually calmed down for the day. Without her twin sister, she was kind of depressed. It's like she is a soldier who lost his will to fight. Influencing Rom to do things with her was one of her favorite activities in the world and now she couldn't do that in sixth hour.

"Hmph, who needs her anyway." Ram said in an annoyed tone.

Not much was going on in culinary class, since it was the first day, there was nothing to cook. So what does Vert do? Take a nap. While the rest of the class was out and about, Vert managed to sleep like a baby during that chaos. She must have the ears of a goddess to sleep through all that noise. Her dreams are unknown, but they must be good on account of the smile on her face.

Finally in Creative writing class, Rom was in the back corner of the class. This is the first time all day she'd been without Ram. All of the other classmates being older than her made her uncomfortable. Her head between her arms while lying down on her desk indicated she didn't this feeling. Reflecting on the words of a friend though, she pulled herself up and picked up a notebook. Taking a pen out as well, she began to write something, something we may never know.

Back in the band room, I was taking a look through Nepgear's deck. For the most part, it was impressive. It focuses mainly on defense, but has great offensive capabilities. There was one card in there that her still couldn't forget. Ulamog, one of the three eldrazi titans. If she were to ever get that out on me, there's a 99.99999999% chance I'll lose. Oh well, that's for future Jack to worry about.

Noire also had a deck, it was a Black and White knight deck. It mainly focused on both offense and defense. There was one card in it though that caught his eye. It was an instant called lace ribbon dance. This was most strange since I've never heard of it before. Screw that, if she ever plays it, everyone on the field is screwed. Let's just hope that never happens.

Uni was the only one of us not to have a deck. It was strange, she seemed like she'd enjoy it a lot. She simply stated "I just haven't found time to build a deck." More like the money, she spends it all on guns and ammo. This has to change, so she can have fun with the rest of us.

"You know, if you want, I could build you a deck for free." A reasonable offer

"Re… Really, you'd do that for someone you met not too long ago?"

"Sure, you've been nice to me, and I want you to have fun with us. So… deal?" I hold out a hand for a handshake.

"Deal!" Unlike Rom, she actually takes my hand and we shake on it.

Getting what she wants in a deck which consists of range attacks and direct damage. I'm thinking a green and red deck. Even if I screw up the colors, I think she'll like what I can throw together. My first deck was exactly like that. Looking at the clock, I notice it's not too long before the day is over. We have three minutes, make that two left.

Packing everything up in the messenger back I put it over my shoulder. It appears the other four people with me are packing up as we speak. It's a good thing we are prepared to leave. Once that bell rings, it turns into all out war in the hall. Students trying to get to their buses by any means necessary. The bell rings, time to blow this popsicle stand.

I head to the front lobby, the others should be waiting for me there. Turns out my instinct was correct, the four that parted ways with us are there. All of them look generally happy to see us. Rom and Ram are holding each other like they haven't seen the other in ten years. As expected as well, Neptune and Vert are quietly talking about lord only knows what.

"Hey guys!" Neptune yells to us.

"Ok I guess." Better respond or she might get mad.

"Hello sis, we had a lot of fun in band today, how was art?"

"It was awesome, I did this amazing finger painting in there today. Here Jack, this is for you."

Being handed a painting of, is that a cat? I don't know what it is but I'll keep it. This means a lot to me, a gift from a friend. It's been too long since I've had any, so this is a nice change of pace. I think I'll put it on my desk when I get home. Now that I get a better look at it, it doesn't look so bad. I hate to admit it, but she's good at finger painting.

"Band was alright I guess, can't complain." It's nice to know Uni likes band.

"Why are you yawning?" Blanc asks a question towards Vert.

"Without anything to cook, I decided to take a nap." Wait, just because she didn't have anything to do she went to sleep? I admit the first day of school is tiring, but not that tiring. Perhaps she is good at hiding sleep deprivation.

"So, are we all gonna talk tonight?" Wait what?! I have to talk to these girls tonight? I just met them today.

"That reminds me jack, can I have your phone number?" Nepgear asked that, how could I say no. Saying my number, all eight of them put it in their phones and wait for someone to give a conversation topic. It was Vert who broke the silence.

"By the way, who's playing four goddess' online with me tonight?" Now I have to play MMO's? This is going to get exhausting. Might as well play it, sounds interesting to say the least.

The seven other girls say they'll join in, this comes as a surprise. I would've thought Noire and Uni would decline, gaming doesn't seem like their thing. Debating on this, I decide why the hell not and give it a go. Besides, it'll give me a chance to connect with them all more. And after the moments I had today, I think I should do that.

"Sure, I'll play with you guys, I'll just have to create an account."

"Splendid!" Vert says while putting her hands together and closing her eyes.

Looking at the digital clock in the lobby, I notice it's time for my brother Maurice to pick me up from school. Waving goodbye to my eight new friends, I exit the school. Seeing my brothers car, I walk over to it and get in the passenger side door.

"Hey bro, high school treating you well?" I think he's expecting me to say it's hell.

"It's the opposite of that thank you very much."

"You seem unusually happy, what happened?" When he asked this, Neptune began a texting spree on my phone. So many messages from her were coming that I thought it was just a hallucination. Turning my phone off, I turn to my brother and stare in his eyes.

"Well, there is this girl…"

"The start of every tragic story."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N: to GodofMadness, this chapter will have a lot of Vert moments. You've been a great supporter of this story since chapter one. Even if I may not be her biggest fan, this story can still go any of which ways. So enjoy this chapter as much as you can.**

"I see, so that's why." This is the aftermath of my brother Maurice.

We had drove home from school and just pulled in front of his apartment. Since my brother is considerably older than I am and I don't know where my parents are, I live with him and his girlfriend. I don't take up too much of their income or space, in fact, I help them as much as I can. The whole ride home I had told him the events that had unfolded today. He was shocked to find out about how my day was with eight angels, or demons in ones case.

That's right, she hasn't stopped texting me the whole time. As soon as I turned my phone back on, I had a whole array of random messages sent from the one and only Neptune. Fifty messages in under a minute, that's not humanly possible.

One thing that he said that ticked me off, and embarrassed me at the same time was when he said bring one of them home. Do I really want to go out with one of them? That moment I had with Nepgear in the computer lab was one thing. I didn't know what she was thinking at the time, or why I was going to go for it. Then there's Blanc in the band room, the way she looked at me was very nerve wracking. Bad becomes worse when I was actually thinking about going on my primal desires.

This was officially the weirdest experience of my life. Being lonely for so many years must've finally caught up with me. It gets even weirder because of the fact that deep inside, I think I could feel that they wanted the same thing that I've been pondering. Was this the same for all of them or was it just the two? It'd get even weirder if Rom and Ram were part of that mix.

Enough of that, it's my turn to cook dinner tonight, so I better get started.

Part of living with Maurice for so long is that I've learned how to cook. It also doesn't help during my solitude years that I watched a lot of cooking shows. This is much to his delight as well as his girlfriends. It's kind of sad that I'm a better cook than him and his girlfriend respects me more for it.

We have a rule, whoever cooks doesn't have to do the dishes. This was good, as soon as dinner was over, I received a text Vert. This was to be expected, we were friends after all. It also doesn't help matters that I said I'd play games with them tonight. It's not like I had anything else better to do, and with no dishes to do, I went to my room and booted up my laptop.

Looking back at the text, it read as such: "Jack, the game is known as four goddess' online. Meet me at castle courtyard on server forty-three."

"This should be fun."

Finally inputting my password, I open up a browser and search for the game. The official site came up on my search and I clicked on it. It looks appealing enough to get me to play. Since I don't have an account, it's obvious to create one. Clicking the sign up button I'm taken to another screen. Entering an avatar name, GunSlinger679, I then click that I will use a male avatar. Customizing my character, being average height, dark blue hair, and hazel eyes I was ready to go.

The game had other plans, one final screen appeared, it said I had to choose an alliance to join. Only given the choices of Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox, I needed to see the benefits of each nation.

Planeptune was the nation of Purple progress, having the most advanced technology in the whole game gave tech savvy people an advantage. You also received extra hit speed if you joined this nation. Getting more attacks than the average player. Another thing you got if you joined this nation was an intelligence boost. An interesting choice, but I'll have to view the other nations.

Lastation was next on the viewing list. The land of Black regality it is called, personally I like the name. A heavily industrialized nation, being covered mostly by factories and machines. A person of this nation will get a weapons crafting bonus. Your character will also get more agility and dexterity than an average player. Finally was the strength boost I would receive if I joined. Two nations down, two nations to go.

Third was Lowee, the land of white serenity. A land of fantasy and something you'd see out of a child's mind. It looks like a great place for players who don't dig combat. A player of this nation will get a potion crafting bonus. The character will also gain elemental resistance of a great degree. Finally if I joined there would be a power you'd get to find rare ingredient spots. One more nation left to review and then I could choose.

Leanbox, the land of green pastures, looked like it might be my style. Covered by mostly green, a character of this nation will receive a spear strength and speed bonus. A passive treasure search ability which would reveal medium rare treasures in dungeons. Finally the player will get a vitality bonus, probably from all the clean air.

Now that the boring reading of each nation is out of the way, time to make a choice. Taking a minute to review the pros and cons of each side, I finally made a choice about the character I will be. My nation is Lastation, I'm hoping to be a speedy warrior type and that agility will come in handy with that.

Clicking no for the tutorial dungeon, I head to the big castle in front of me. A few avatars are there, but one is waving to me. She has sea foam green hair, a white suit that covers her back but leaves almost all of her front exposed. The armor ratings in these games is so unrealistic it's not even funny. The most apparent feature is the amount of underboob she is displaying. Yep… that's Vert alright. I can tell by two reasons. One, her avatar is blowing a kiss to mine with one eye closed. Two, her boobs are so massive it should be a crime to be that large.

"Hello dear, you made it!" She sounds so glad I'm here? Speaking of which… where are the others right now?

"Why wouldn't I make it?"

"No reason, all of our friends couldn't play tonight, so I was afraid I'd be alone."

She gets lonely if she doesn't play MMO's with people? Guess I can live with this.

"By the way, I have some new gear for you, much more advanced than your current things."

Her arm reaches out and hands my avatar some items which are now in my inventory. As the new items icon appears, I click equip. This new equipped items looks… cool. I'm wearing a grey shirt then over it is a blue short sleeved jacket. My pants are a darker shade of blue than the jacket I'm wearing. The boots are the same shade as the pants with gold laces. My gloves are with the same pattern as the boots being dark blue with the gold on it. The final piece of clothing I was given was a yellow scarf that compliments the blue jacket. My new weapon was a revolver, five shot and packs a mean punch in all silver.

Overall, my character has the strength of a player way higher level than me. I really owe Vert a huge debt for this. For now, she's looking at a map, she must be planning something devious. Whatever it is, I'll play along with it.

"Alright dear, I have something planned just for you."

"This should be good."

"I have a dungeon we could go through just so you can level up a bit."

"Alright, let's go."

She then hands me a crystal and tells me to use it. Instantly I'm shattered then reappear in front of an ancient looking door. There's a red icon above the door, I can only assume it means this dungeon is way out of my league. As long as I'm with Vert though, I should be alright. Our hands touch the door, it automatically opens. This place has an eerie feeling too it, I'm not sure if I'll be safe.

"What's wrong? There's nothing to be afraid of." She gives me a comforting smile then turns to walk forward.

"It's… nothing. Just a little nervous."

Nervous doesn't describe how I feel. If my avatar dies, then I'll lose this gift from Vert. Guess I just won't die then, I'll just survive. Making our way past some empty rooms, enemies appeared. These enemies were suits of armor holding a claymore, except they had no heads. The icon above their heads were yellow, a take caution icon. Vert readied her spear, in response, I draw my revolver and picked a target.

The knights charge at us, Vert uses her spear to impale the charging one. She then turns around and the force of that makes the knight slide off into another knight. I fire a shot into any of the knights that get near me. It's at that point I notice a knight about to hit Vert in the back. I had a choice, save her life points, or take damage. I chose the obvious thing, I turned the revolver and shot the knight, its health bar depleted. As Vert let out a "thank you" a sword had hit me.

"Gah!" Damn that hurts.

Returning the revolver to fire at a charging knight, I realized that I needed to reload. Luckily the gloves increased the reload speed. Just in time, I put the gun up to its chest and fired. Vert had finished off her enemies at the same time I finished mine. Looking at the loot list, I got a short sword. I knew I needed a melee weapon in case I can't reload fast enough. Equipping the sword, we then face the final room of the dungeon.

"This was a really short dungeon. Perfect for leveling up at an early level."

The door opens, it's dark and rather dry in the room. I can't see hardly anything, until the boss showed up. Torches upon torches lit up revealing a dragon, standing three stories high. I looked at his cursor, ancient dragon it said, the danger meter showed black. Black means you should never attempt this enemy. For Vert though, I'm sure it appeared at most yellow.

Roaring, the dragon then breathed fire on us. Suddenly an ethereal shield appeared before me. Vert cast a spell to shield my life. She wasn't as lucky as I though. Her life meter was going down rapidly. At my final glance, it was in the red, this was bad, even she couldn't stand up to it. Her avatar fell to the ground, I had to kill this thing, for her sake. Pulling out my revolver in my left hand then the sword in the other, I was about to test death.

Surprisingly, it had very little health. It's attacks are just really strong, strong enough to leave Vert down for the count. Even my weapons could damage it. Shooting at the dragon, I already had his health at three quarters. So far it only attacks me with its claws or mouth, guess fire breath needs time to recharge.

"ROAR!" I can tell it feels pain.

"Take this you son of a bitch!"

It throws its claw into the ground, now's the moment. Jumping up on its hand, I begin running up the dragons arm. In retaliation, he thrusts his arm up, this is no problem however. Being in air, I lunge myself towards the dragons head. My sword is able to pierce his eye.

"ROAR!" I kind of feel bad for this string of 1's and 0's.

Driving the blade deeper inside of his eye socket, now the health bar of the dragon is dropping rapidly. Roaring in pain as if begging for me to get off of him, thrashing into anything he can find. One of those thrashes knocks me off of him. Looking at his health bar, it's extremely low. All it would take to finish him is one bullet. Problem is, my character only has one shot left in his revolver. Better make it count.

"vaya con dios." I say to the dragon.

A shot is fired, and it goes directly through the dragons' heart. With one final roar of pain, he falls to the ground. Finally he has been defeated, but this wouldn't have been possible without Vert's shield at the beginning of the fight. Looking at the drop screen, I received enough EXP to raise me from level three to level fifteen. Damn that's some good experience, well, it is hard to kill after all. Something here is called a weapon recipe for fire bullets. Among a new revolver, ingredients, and new gear, I get healing items.

"Oh no!" I immediately run over to Vert's avatar. Still on the ground and still slowly depleting health. Going through my inventory, I select a major healing potion and give it to her. This gets her health from low red to high yellow. I can see her start to get up, she stares at me, then the dragon, then me again.

"You actually killed it? I'm impressed."

"I couldn't have done it without your help. In a way, we both saved each other." I'm right on that part.

"Well Mr. Hero, care to claim your reward?" What does she mean?

"I have plenty of loot already, what reward?"

Her avatar then begins to move forward slightly, then pucker her lips. So it's this type of reward eh? Not long after that, I get a text box asking if I'll do the emotion. I'm not sure actually, I don't think I have feelings for her, and yet, I'm getting all fuzzy from this game interaction.

"Oh well, it's a game, it's not going to affect our friendship in the real world."

Clicking the yes icon, my character takes hers in his arms. He then looks into her eyes staring down since he's taller. Closing his eyes, his head moves closer until their lips meet. Like I said, even if it is a game, I still feel really weird inside from this. Just looking at this gets me all light headed. Our lips break apart, then our bodies separate. "We might want to get out of here before the dragon respawns." Good point Vert.

We walk out of the dungeon, moonlight quickly shining upon us. For a game, it's very relaxing just standing under the moon. Other than that, we just stand there. I look at my clock, it's eleven already, I'm going to have to get to sleep soon.

"Well this has been fun, but I really must be going."

"Aren't you going to give your princess a goodnight kiss?" Her avatar then puckers her lips again. Might as well do it. My avatar holds hers again. And like before, stares into her eyes before kissing her with passion. Why is she doing this to me? Perhaps she does this to every new boy she meets. Not being able to come to a conclusion, I scroll over and click the logout button.

I didn't know this, but Vert said after I left, "if only that was a real kiss." Shortly afterwards she logged out as well.

Back in the real world, I was more confused than ever about any of these girls. Something deep inside told me I'd get used to it eventually. It's only been one day after all, I'm sure to get used to it. Oh how wrong I was that day. Before I went to sleep, I asked myself a question.

"What the hell is happening to my life?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

My head feels like someone just hit it with a shovel, I can hardly walk straight. Walking through the town early in the morning has some advantages, like more silence. Or an attempt to make your head feel better. This usually calms my mind then I return home. Tonight was different though, it feels as if something bad is about to happen.

The pain is slowly going away from this relaxing of mine. As I walk, it feels as if the streets of the town I've spent my whole life in are longer than they are. This is probably just a delusion from the head pain. But something is rather amiss.

The convenient store should be open by now, serving cheap breakfast to morning dwellers. There are no lights other than the ones on the street. Worst part of it all, around this time, a car or two would have passed me. Not one single car have I seen.

This was starting to really freak me out. Never in all my years have I seen this, it's always run on the same schedule. Taking a turn, I decide it's time to go back home before it gets too late and becomes dawn.

Walking down this new sidewalk gives me slight comfort. I'm not too far from the apartment. It's only a few more blocks away. When I would get in there it would all be normal again, I'd sleep for another hour, then I'd go to school. Simple plan yes, but almost impossible on account of what happens next.

A hand goes on my shoulder. Naturally, I turn around quickly and punch the unknown person. But when I turned around, nothing was there. If I didn't piss my pants before, I have now. Running now instead of walking, I want to get back home as soon as possible. My target is clear, and something invisible wants to kidnap me.

"Jack… Jack… Jack…" A faint voice is calling my name.

Paying no mind to this, I continue the sprint to home. I was scared of this, I haven't been scared in years. I don't know who or what was after me, and I didn't care, I just wanted to go home. I could soon hear footsteps getting louder behind me. Not wanting to look, I kept my head forward, but still cried for help.

"Help! Help! Can anyone hear me!?" No responses came.

After that, the hand grabbed my shoulder again. To avoid capture, I made a sharp left into an ally. Probably not my best idea, but hey, I needed to get away. Making another left turn at the end of the ally, what I saw next would scar me for life.

It was a person in a cloak standing about seven feet away from me. He was sticking stakes into a wall, wait not a wall, he was sticking them into people. I got a closer look, I knew the person who the ripping and mushy sound was coming from.

"Nepgear!" That's right, this person was sticking stakes into Nepgear, my new friend. Her face was hardly recognizable at this point. It was tore up and scratched all over. And I even think that one of her eyes sockets had a stake in it. The sight almost made me throw up right there, but I held it back. Bad goes to worse as I saw there were other victims. All seven of my other friends were upon the wall, suspended with her with stakes.

I could see and hear the blood of them trickle down the stakes. This wasn't real, it couldn't be. It was some bad dream, or a bad acid trip if I did drugs and didn't know it. I couldn't watch this anymore, I had to run away, but something, more like someone paralyzed me.

The cloaked person turned around, the shadow of the hood covering the face. I was sure I'd be next, it would only make sense. They didn't though, instead, all they did was stare at me. Until I managed to let out a cry in a combination of anger, grief, and depression.

"Who the hell are you!?" I yelled at the top of my lunges. Tears could be seen flowing down my red cheeks. This guy ruined my whole world, they had killed my friends.

"How could you not know?" He says, it's a male voice, how could I not know what, who the hell he is? Then he takes the hood of the cloak then throws it back. I was shocked at who was under the cloak. I knew the voice sounded familiar to a certain degree. "Who I am." I take it that he was finishing the last sentence.

It was me, no it wasn't but it was. I killed them, wait he killed them. This is getting confusing to the point I might actually not be angry just confused. There are noticeable differences though, his hair is all messy unlike mine. And more importantly, there is blood coming down from my… his eyes.

"You're not me, you're a monster! How could you kill them!?"

"You did this, you cannot avoid this." He then starts slowly walking towards me. Stake in hand, to my best guess, he plans to kill me. I have nothing left, all of them are dead, and I'm about to join them. Time to accept fate.

He is standing right in front of me. Raising his stake into the air, I feel the imminent demise I'll have. It goes down, and strikes me.

"AH!" This scream was real, it was just a dream, and a bad one at that. I'm all sweaty and hot, it feels rather uncomfortable. Under me was a pool of my own sweat. Man I must've had a really bad dream. Part of me though told me that the dream was real. After that, it was hard to get comfortable, so I looked at the clock, it was six thirty in the morning. Deciding to get up, a shower is the best option right now. Grabbing a towel, I head to the bathroom, and turn on the water, cold to wake me up.

After I'm finished and dried off slightly, I look at the clock in there. "7:00" it read. Guess I needed some extra relaxing today. After the dream I had, anybody would need a nice shower. At this point I don't feel as tired or frightened as I did earlier this morning.

Finally exiting the bathroom, I return to my room. Drying off completely, I select a new outfit to take on the day with. After it's put on, I start mentally preparing myself for what weirdness awaits me at school. The dream is forgotten after a little time as most dreams are. Lying down until my brother gets up and ready, I can rest up a little. After the time passes a little but, Maurice opens my door. When he does my clock reads 7:24.

"Ok, you ready to get going?" It's nice having a brother that cares about me so much.

"Yeah, let's." I grab my messenger bag and a deck box to put in it. I walk out the door with my brother and proceed to his car. Something across the street catches my eye. In front of the apartment build opposite is none other than Neptune and Nepgear. I didn't know they lived there, this is interesting.

"Hold up a minute Maurice, I have to do something." Putting my bag in the passenger seat of his car, I begin to walk over to them. It's not that far of a walk, only about a small parking lot. Only after about half a minute I get to my two purple haired friends.

"Hey, I didn't know you too lived here."

"Hey! Long time no see right?" It's only been a day Neptune.

"Hello Jack, Good morning." Nepgear says in the nicest tone I've ever heard.

Out of all of my friends, Nepgear has been the nicest to me by far. Not saying the others aren't nice, they are, she's just better at it.

"If you two want, my brother could give you a ride to school, and home as well. He won't mind."

"Really? I hate this whole bus thing, they take too long." Nice to see Neptune is on board with it. "Well… if it's not too much trouble." That's a green light from Nepgear. Having everyone in agreement, we walk over to my brother. At first, he looks at them weirdly, and then pulls me over then whispers. "If you want me to give these girls rides, then yes. You need to score Jack."

That last statement troubled me a little bit. Not even knowing if I could possibly date one of them is one thing. But my brother wanting it to happen is another thing. I can't get too worked up over it, time to continue on. Nodding to both sisters, they get in the back two seats. The ride to school is an annoying one with Neptune asking my brother all sorts of weird questions.

When we arrive at the all too familiar building. After getting out of the car, my brother drives off almost instantly, but not before giving me a suggestive glare. I really hate him at times. Enough of that shit, time to at least have a peaceful morn… "Ugh!"

"Onward my noble steed!" Since when is it a good idea to jump on a person's back Neptune? She can really get me mad at times. With the nonstop texting after school yesterday, and now treating me like a horse. Well, time to give her the ride of her life.

"Hang on then." I begin running towards the door making her hang on barely. "Let me off, let me off!" Knew that my plan would work. Letting her down gently, I can now get inside the scho… "Ugh!" Another great force hits me, this one knocking me down to the hard stone. Vert had jumped on me much to the degree Neptune did, except she was trying to knock me down, Neptune just wanted a ride. Why does this kind of shit happen to me all the time?

"Good morning dear, I trust now you're saved."

"Are you talking about last night?" As soon as I uttered those words, Neptune's ears perked up and she got a wolfish grin. "Last night? Oh tell me what happened, did anything juicy go down?" I'm not sure if I should be telling Neptune of all people about last night in the dungeon. "Honestly Vert, are you trying to kill him?" Noire just joined in this little group, from what the past day, the rest of the gang is about to show up.

I was right, behind Noire was Uni. "Why does this kind of idiotic stuff always happen?" Uni is one of the people in this group who I could probably have an intelligent conversation with. The others being Noire, Nepgear, Blanc, and Rom. Keep in mind the whole time this is happening, Vert is still on top of me, and I'm about to die. If anyone knew what we did with our avatars I'd never hear the end of it.

"Hello Ja… What the hell are you doing to him!?" A wild Blanc appears, along with her two younger sisters. At least she's concerned about me not getting squished to death. Blanc is covering the eyes of Rom and Ram, probably to keep them away from profanity. My theory is since Blanc is self-conscious about her chest, she doesn't want them to like or see people with bountiful chests.

"What's the matter? Is it wrong to show someone love?" Her definition of love is crushing me under her chest? At this point I regret everything I did yesterday.

"By love you mean crushing." Thank you Noire, you get it.

"This is wrong, so WRONG!" Uni, you also get it.

"Get your boobs off my steed, he still has riding to do you know?" I'm not a damn horse Neptune.

It's amazing that I was able to survive one day with these crazy girls. Two day on the other hand, that may be asking a little much for anyone. I'll try though, I want to be there friend as much as I can. Everyone is laughing at Neptune's statement, even Blanc cracks a smile at the remark. One person remains, Nepgear is looking off into the distance, her cheeks flushed red. Shaking her head a little after a minute, she joins in the laughing. What is up with her? I think she may be broken, or just crazy like the rest. Either way, pushing Vert off of me. Of course to do this, my hand had to touch her boobs. They are unbelievably soft, and anyone would love to feel these. Much like yesterday, my body wants me to go in for more. No, be gone worldly desires.

I get up and look at the outside clock, it reads 7:57, only three minutes left. "Come on, we have to get to class. If we don't the teachers will be pissed." With a nod from all of them we enter the building. Unaware of the horrors ahead of me today.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The second day isn't so. If anything, it's easier than the first day. As expected, the principal gave a speech about how we're all in high school now and we need to act it. Me being… well me, didn't pay much mind to it. I don't plan on getting in trouble and I'm well behaved, so this didn't apply to me. Other than it being so boring, I would've fallen asleep… except for one lilac thing to my side.

"Hey, hey, don't look so drowsy wowsy, wake up will ya?" She's whispering to me right now, as if to taunt me.

That's it, there's no way she could be my neighbor, there's just no way. If I have to live close to this… this… thing! I'm going to die before the week ends. Well, time to tune her out. Looking around me in the auditorium, I noticed that many of my friends are in the same condition that I'm in.

Vert is already asleep, why isn't Neptune keeping her up? She's lucky though, her bosom provides her with an ample pillow. The way she's laying on them, it looks very pleasant and comfortable. Man I'd kill for a pillow like that right now. I wonder if Vert would let me do that someday, she's already said she's going to seduce me, might as well try sometime.

Rom and Ram, being so young I can understand their situation. This is probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Rom is leaning over the arm rest of the seat, while Ram is on top of her. If you listen hard enough, you can hear faint snoring coming from one of them. If I actually had a heart, I'd say they were cute when they slept like that.

Finally the principal decides he's done with boring us to death, and lets us return to class. Right about now it's third hour. Good lord he took way too long. We managed to skip two classes but this is ridiculous. I hate to admit it, but I actually want to go to class than listen to his voice.

"Man that was soooooo boring!"

"What… (Yawn), did I miss?" Nice to see sleeping beauty awake and lively. The same thing can't be said about the twins. There they still rest on each other. Nepgear lightly shook Ram, this sent her into a moment of eye flutters. From that point she acted like you'd expect, cranky.

"Why did you wake me up!? I was fine!" Yep, this is exactly how I thought this would turn out. Nepgear looks saddened by this. If only I knew what she was thinking. From what I can infer, she's thinking somewhere along the lines of "Did I mess up?" or "am I a failure?" With minds like these it's hard to predict what they're thinking at times. "Nepgear looks shaken, could you wake Rom?" Blanc seems surprisingly caring right now. I don't know why she's asking me all of a sudden. Giving a simple nod I walk over to the sleeping Rom. How she slept through Ram's yelling I'll never know.

Walking a few steps to the left, I lightly poke Rom on the nose. This results in her squirming a bit before slightly opening her eyes. The way she's looking at me is just what you call adorable. Blinking once she closes her eyes again then drift back to dreamland. I don't want a cranky Rom, so I do what feels natural. Picking her up as careful as I can, I hold her bridal style. Once situated where she curls up a little more, I begin to walk.

"Hmm, you're pretty good with kids." Very good observation Noire.

"You're alright I guess." Nice to know Blanc's back.

Walking down the halls, we reach the appropriate classroom. Walking inside I get a few curious looks. It's at this moment I realize I'm still holding Rom. "Hahaha, look at the baby!" I hate the people I go to school with. Just because I'm carrying a sleeping younger person doesn't mean she's a baby. "Why don't you just go away Andrew, I'll bet she's ten times more intelligent than you are."

"Yeah… well… you're gay." Is he really going back to such petty insults? This is as good of a sign as any that I've won. If it's anything I learned in my years of seclusion, it's how to piss smart asses off.

"I expect more maturity out of you. No wonder people think we evolved from monkeys." Now this REALLY pissed him off. I'm not talking about a regular amount, I'm talking steam coming from his ears angry.

"Why you!" He's clearly letting his emotions get the better of him. He runs at me and throws his right arm back to gain a strong punch. Normally I'd side step him, but this is a special circumstance. I don't want to snap Rom awake with a sudden jerk. And if I just stand here, his fist will actually hit her before me. I only have one option.

Doing a smooth heel turn, my back is now facing towards his fist. Brace for impact. "Pfft!" It actually made a noise upon contact. Damn, that hurt more than I expected it too. The shock of the punch was enough to wake Rom up, but not too heavily. Her eyes opened. My face was giving off the look of someone who was in serious pain.

"Ja… Jack? Are you… alright?" The trembling in her voice tells me right away she's really concerned about me.

Saying nothing to her. Instead I give her a comforting smile. Taking the thumb of one of my hands, I wipe the drewl off the corners of her mouth. "Yeah… I'm alright. Don't worry about me." Finally setting her down in a chair, I turn to face Andrew.

"Why'd ya save the chick? She doesn't deserve to be in high school. Her and that brat sister of hers." Ok, now he's really pissing me off. Looking to my right, I can see a hurt Ram.

"Tha… that's not true. We're super smart. We can be here. And you can't do anyt-"

"I can't do what? You're just a brat."

The dam has been broken, tears are flowing. I can't believe he made Ram cry, that's cruel even by my standards. He has no soul. He made a friend of mine cry. Hell, even Rom is close to tearing up. He's not just a bully, he's a monster.

"Hey! Don't talk to my friends like that!" Thanks for the support Uni.

"How dare you talk that way about my sisters you bitch? You can just go die in a goddamned hole!"

Uni and Blanc are by my side. He hurt my friends, and he needs to pay for his crimes. Uni and I would've done something, except… Blanc acted up. The teacher was out of the room, so this was a perfect moment to torture.

Blanc picked Andrew up by his collar and slammed him against the wall. It didn't stop there, she punched him about three times as hard as she hit me. His nose is now broken, and a little bloody. Blanc drops him.

"Anyone see anything?" Glad you asked Blanc. "No!" The class said in unison.

Walking away from the scene, I get down on one knee to view Rom at eye level. She's crying which is understandable. Next I put my hands on her shoulders and speak softly to her. "Hey, it's ok. He won't bother you or Ram again." I don't know if that's true or not.

Blanc walks beside us and says, "That's right, it'll stay safe.

The teacher then walks into the room. Looking at Andrew on the floor, she seems curious. But throws it off as he got what was coming to him. The class becomes silent. Rom buries he head into my side and continues to cry. This goes unnoticed by the teacher, who just sits down at her desk.

I don't know if Rom trusts me or not to comfort her. Maybe I'm just the closest thing she could use. Either way, she's young, she doesn't need to go through dicks like Andrew yet. Whatever came over me seems to work slightly. Taking my left hand, I slowly stroke the back of her head. Her sobbing subsides for the time being.

"Ja… Jack?" I can guess she's thinking what the hell are you doing? Her next words derail this thought. Instead, I feel somewhat good about it. "Thank you Jack."

She wraps her arms completely around me at this point. Getting a hug from her isn't so bad. The weirdest part of it all was she's not letting go. Why is she just sitting there hugging me? It's one thing to be hugged for a long period of time. It's another thing when this girl is way younger than you are is holding it out.

Giving her a slight shove, she snaps back to reality. Quickly pulling away from me and sitting in the seat to my left still. It doesn't take a genius to notice the blush on her cheeks. Oh god is another one possibly falling for me? I've only known them for about two days and some of them might have feelings for me? This is all getting too strange for me.

I won't deny that they're cute. But what if one day one of us becomes more than friends? How would the others react to that? Oh well, that's future Jacks problem. Present Jack needs to focus on his class right now. It wouldn't be until the end of the day until something else would happen.

* * *

Standing in the main lobby, the final bell has rung and we all gather for the final moment of the school day. Everyone else is talking amongst themselves, and me? I'm just standing on the sideline, not saying a word. They all look so happy, don't want to disturb the moment is all. My moment is disturbed when a certain lilac haired girl asks me a question.

"Jack, why don't you come join us tonight in four goddesses online? Me and Uni are playing tonight and… we need someone to protect us in the dungeon." Ok, where is Nepgear getting this from? From what I've gathered so far, Uni would've been more likely to invite me along.

"Yeah, I guess he can come. I hope he's high enough level." I killed an ancient dragon last night, I think I can handle what they have in store. Then again, with these girls, I've learned in a VERY short time that anything is possible. "Sure, let's meet up near the castle at the beginning." It's one of the two places I actually know in that game.

"Looks like my ride's here, sorry, got to go." I wave and smile to them.

"Wait, can we get a ride home? Pwetty pwease?" Those puppy dog eyes are hard to resist. It should be a crime to use those eyes. It would ultimately be up to Maurice to give them a ride back to their complex. Doesn't hurt to try. Nodding slightly, both take notice of this and begin to follow. Nepgear following more than Neptune. She has a way of running and then suddenly stopping in front of me.

Getting to Maurice's car, his window roles down. "Hey, can you give Neptune and Nepgear a ride home?" Part of me expects him to say no to my silly request. Then again, knowing him he'll get on me for being single for so long. It's one of those brothers looking out for their younger brother kind of things. "Sure thing Jack." Hey gives me a light wink.

I'm embarrassed at his eyelid moving down then up. I don't care anymore. I've had to deal with these eight girls for two days, I can handle anything that life throws my way. Waving to my two lilac haired friends, they make their way to the car. "Can I take Shotgun?" Neptune asks.

"Sure, go ahead." Neptune sliding across the hood, gets in the front seat. Opening the door for Nepgear, she gets in the car. Walking around the back of the car, I open the other door and set myself in the seat. He starts to drive away from the school and to the complex. This is strange, usually you have to wait a few weeks before a girl will get in a car with you. Now on day two I have two girls in my brothers' car? Damn I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

Driving down the road is surprisingly relaxing. Neptune is focused on looking at what little the town has to offer. I was wrong about what she was thinking about. She was amazed at what it had still. From what I could tell, she's been in town for not too long. It only make sense to check out the town when it's still fresh.

Nepgear is looking down at her feet. This my friends is known as the strong debate mode. Even I can see it in her eyes, she has a blank look in them, like she's in another world. She doesn't even notice us come to a stop at the complex. I put my hand on her shoulder and gently.

"Ah!" Even the slightest of shakes sent her screaming. I didn't mean to frighten her like that, it must be how she's programed inside. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you like that. It's just… you were lost in thought and we arrived. So-"I was cut off by her index finger going over my mouth.

"No… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. Don't get worried over me. I'm not worth it. I'm… *hic*… just not worth worrying abo…" I couldn't take this anymore. She was being way too apologetic about something that was my fault. I did the only thing I could think of. A hug. My arms were wrapped around her trying to comfort her. When it comes to crying girls, I can't stand for it.

"That's ridiculous, you're so worth it. Don't let anyone, even yourself tell you otherwise. You're my friend, and one of the people who changed me." Was my heart bleeding out at this point? I know that I've thought she's cute, and really nice. But I don't know what I expect to come out of this. Was it respect? Love? Or something that even I don't understand.

"Jack… thank you. Thank you so much." Her arms wrap around me. As she does this, I get a warm feeling inside. She isn't the only one that this has happened to. Blanc has gotten me this way, it happened yesterday in the band room. Noire was on this list, for some unknown reason, she just had an aura to her. Hell, even Vert made me feel this way once.

I've found something that I like. And this moment is one I wish could go on forever. Both of us sit there in the back seat holding each other. Why we are I will never know. My body was subconsciously doing this I guess. However, Maurice has a way of ruining great moments.

"Hey lovebirds, care to get out of my car?" Now both of us are snapped back to reality. Upon realizing where I am and what I'm doing, my face turns red. Nepgear faced a similar conundrum. Her face was red as well, embarrassed about being in my arms, or being comforted. Either way, she's up shit creek without a paddle.

"Lo… Lovebirds!? We're not like that." We both say in unison. Nothing would bring me more comfort me more than being out of this situation. Oh wait, there is that solution. I open the car door and quickly get out. Nepgear follows my example and gets out on her own side. Both of us still stained red from that encounter.

"So… um… we still on for gaming tonight?" Stupid stupid stupid, why the hell is that the first question I ask?

"Su… sure, that's fine." He blushing hasn't subsided yet. At least she's smiling, but about what? Holy crap I knew they'd all get me killed sooner or later.

"Come on Nep Jr., let's get going, we have things to do." Nodding to her sister, Nepgear follows her back to their apartment. I wonder who they live with. Before disappearing into the door, Nepgear looks over her shoulder and gives me a quick look.

Shaking my head rapidly, I walk back into the apartment. Greeting my female roommate, I promptly make it to my room. I've got some school papers to fill out anyway. This is interrupted by an unexpected text message. From an unknown number? This is weird. When I open up the message it reads.

"I will fucking kill you and your brat friends."

**A/N: In the chapters beyond this point, there will be time lapses. I don't think you want to view every single day. They won't be big lapses though, just days or hours. Again review the story, and continue to read.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

There was no other person it could be that texted me. Somehow Andrew found out my phone number. I don't know how he did it, but hell, he did it. And such a threat. I bet this is from how much I insulted him. I heard he went to the hospital and tried to tell people what happened. But from his past records, and the lack of witnesses, nobody believed him.

I kind of feel sad for him, but as Maurice always says. "Bitch had it coming." What the hell am I doing? I just finished washing the dishes from dinner, and now I have plans for tonight. Not to waste any time, I've already booted up my laptop. All that had to happen now was the text from Uni that she and Nepgear were ready.

Surprisingly, it was Nepgear who texted me first. It read as such. "Hey Jack, could I come over to your apartment to play? I have my own laptop, Neptune is just being too loud for my liking. If you decline then that's alright." Why wouldn't I say yes? Not only will I get to hang out with one of my friends. But I'll be playing a game with them right next to me.

I hastily type "sure, come on over." Into my phone than click send. Tonight will be interesting to say the least. If I'm lucky, Vert will be amongst them. Then we'll be an unstoppable party. After last night's dragon fight, we need the strongest team we can muster.

After about a couple minutes of waiting, we get a knock at the door. "Jack! It's for you!" Nepgear opens my bedroom door. She pauses at the sight of it. It's not much of a room, but I like it. On the right corner furthest from the door is my bed. The covers aren't set, but hey, it is a boy's room after all. On the furthest left corner, I have a desk set up with of course, a chair. To its left, is a shelf with some sweet action figures. Among these is an Evangelion unit 02. It was a gift from Maurice, sadly he unboxed it.

"This room is… nice! Well, let's get started shall we?" Nodding, she opens up her laptop and boots it up. Logging into her account, I can view her avatar now. Her in game hair is a lighter shade of lilac than her real life hair. Eyes of blue now, unlike her lilac colored eyes. Her armor included a one piece white bathing suit looking thing. Unattached are sleeves on her arms with an N logo on the top of the hands. Upon her legs are white boots that go most of the way up her legs. It's also noticeable that there are lines of lilac in areas of the suit. The weapon she wields is a sword. The blade is glowing purple, it's thin though. Most of it is a machine looking part that can be used as a gun.

I've got to admit, she looks like she could kill my character ten times without breaking a sweat. Entering the virtual world, our characters begin walking together. The text I got from Uni told us to meet her in front of a dungeon. Taking a few more steps, I'm suddenly stopped by a tug on my sleeve. I turn to see Nepgear tugging on the jacket sleeve.

"Hm, what's up?"

"Um… thank you for… earlier. I'm in debt to you." I think her insecurity is showing again.

"You don't owe me anything, just being a friend." I offer her a friendly smile to show her she's fine. Wait, she's right next to me and we're talking in game? I think she's forgotten that she's in my room. All she does is nod at me, then we continue our walking to the dungeon.

After a few minutes of walking, we reach what appears to be a cave entrance. In front of it is a girl with white hair worn in two drills. Much like Nepgear, she wears a one piece bathing suit looking thing. Instead of the lilac lining though, she has silver. On the chest there is a silver circle. The sleeves of her suit are matching with the main body. Her boots are high-heels that cover most of her legs. The only major difference between the character and her real self is, she has no boobs.

Enough of being a pervert, we have business to attend to. I didn't notice before, but Vert is standing with Uni. This is exactly what I was hoping for. "So, the dungeon in front of us contains some rare items, and we need them. More importantly, I need the assault rifle parts contained here."

"You use guns?" I'm curious at this. Grinning, she holds out her right hand. A flash of light almost makes me blind. When I see what appeared, there's only one thing I can call it. A huge ass gun. My jaw dropped. Taking this as a good sign, Uni turns around and starts to walk through the cave entrance.

Having no other choice, I follow. Behind Uni is Nepgear, then to my right is Vert. I look over to the ever so seductive Vert. She takes notice of my staring and begins to speak to me. "Say Jack… would you like to ditch these two and have a little fun?" I have an idea about what her idea of fun is and I want no part of it.

"Sorry, I promised them I'd help them with this dungeon." When I say this she gets a slightly disappointed look in her eyes. It may have been interesting to have fun with her. But I have to help Nepgear and Uni first. Not that I like them more than Vert, it's just that… well, last time I was with her in this game we ended up making out.

"*CRASH!*" The wall next to us suddenly collapsed. Behind the rubble and dust, a worm is there. It has many rows of teeth, and is just scary as hell. Pulling out my revolver, I point it at the worm. The next thing I saw made me never want to mess with Uni ever.

She shot her gun. The blast was so powerful, it shook the foundations of the cave. Even after the worm started to retreat, she just kept firing at it. After all the smoke cleared, I saw a carcass of the enemy. It was bloody, and had so many holes in it. Oh god, she could kill me in one shot.

Now that the overkill is out of the way, Uni collects her items and gold from the kill then gestures us to move along. I don't know who elected her as leader of this ragtag band of misfits, but none of us disagree with her command. Just as we start walking again to reach the boss room, more enemies show up. These ones aren't NPC's though, they're actual players.

I know how this works. They find a dungeon, hide out until players come to collect the rare items there. Then ambush them. However, I don't plan on losing to some petty thugs. I know that my friends can take them, but they need their HP for the boss fight at the end. The best part of it all is… I might get them to like me more if I defend them.

"Let's make this nice and simple, hand us your items and we'll let you go." What I presume leader of this bandit group gives us the instructions. Like hell I'm going to give in to these demands. "No way, last time you said that you killed them all." Ok I don't know who the leader of this bandit group is, but I'm equally pissed of no matter what. "It's no fun if they know they're going to die."

"Shut the hell up. Ambushing three lovely ladies… that's pretty low." Am I begging to get murdered right here?

"Why you son of a bitch!" All of the bandits raise their swords in anger. I raise my sword in the right, and my new revolver in the left.

"Girls… stay back. You need to save your HP for the boss. Not to mention, I still have some leveling to do to catch up to all of you."

"What!? Why would we sta…"

"Because I don't want to see any of you get hurt!" What is coming over me?

Giving a frustrated nod, Uni decides to step back. Vert soon follows. It's me against over thirty bandits now. Not even NPC ones at that. What the hell have I gotten myself into? No time to take it back now, I have to fight. For all of our sakes.

A few members charge at me. Thanks to my new revolver being fifteen percent more accurate, I fire a shot in two of their faces. Instantly, their avatars fall to the cold hard floor dead. The next ones to run at me are met by a sword in their guts. For bandits, they have really crappy gear. After the fourth one has fallen, the remaining ones charge at me. I'm surrounded by noobs. They're like zombies, one you can handle, but add the horde and then it gets hard.

Doing a horizontal slash, I hit three of them with a light hit. It stuns them for a bit, but not enough damage for a kill. Pointing my revolver in the other direction, I fire a shot into a crowd. A few people were standing behind the person in the front. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. I get distracted from the shot though and a bandit lands a clean hit on me from the other direction. It doesn't take down that much of my health, but still, I should be careful.

Swinging my sword a few more times, four bandits take another hit. Alas no cigar, only one died. Swords hit me from the opposite side again. Damn, when I kill one, it's like three take their place. But I can't give up. Using my last two shots I had loaded in the revolver, I kill off only two more. With only a short sword left, I feel like this is a losing battle. Another sword hits my side.

"Agh!" Damn, my life is already in the yellow from these strikes. Wait… why my character can't move. Looking next to my health bar, I notice a lightning bolt symbol next to it. That can only mean one thing. Paralysis poison was on those blades of theirs. No wonder they make themselves look weak, once you get hit enough, the poison will take effect.

My avatar falls over. Surrounded by bandits now, I accept my fate. A sad one at that, perishing to protect your friends. All hope seemed lost, their swords kept coming down on me like rain. The health I had left was rapidly depleting. I'm sorry Vert… I'm sorry Uni… and most of all, I'm sorry Nepgear.

"*Flash!*" A purple light erupted out of nowhere. When I could see again, everyone was dead. Except one person, a lilac haired girl. She had saved me. "Ne… Nepgear, thanks, guess now I'm in debt to you." Now I'm the one who has issues?

"It's fine, all I'd like is a thank you. In real life preferably."

I turn around from my computer, only to see a smiling Nepgear. Vert and Uni would understand what I'm about to do next once I explain it to them. Putting my index finger on the power button of my laptop, it goes into sleep mode. Apparently Nepgear did this before me since her screen is already black. Guess I should thank her before she starts to debate within herself if she can get impatient.

"So… thanks Nepgear, you really saved me back there." Dammit, why'd I have to use the most common line in the book?

"You're welcome. Actually… it was my own way of saying thanks for comforting me earlier today."

Oh yeah, I had been so focused on saving my ass back there I forgot about that. It's not like I wouldn't, I made a girl cry by doing almost nothing. That takes talent. In the process, I think she gained a little self-confidence. The way she dissed herself in the car made me want puke right then and there. No one should ever say they're not worth worrying about.

"It was nothing, you would do the same for me." Giving off the most heartwarming smile I can, I look into hers eyes. They're beautiful, just the shade of lilac is so perfect. She returns the smile and closes her eyes. We were having a moment, a moment that might result in many good things to come.

I had been so wrapped up with talking to Nepgear, I didn't realize my hand was on top of hers. I jerk back, hoping she didn't notice my hand was on. I'd hate for all my chances for a realationship with her to be ruined by subconscious desires.

"Well, it's getting pretty late, I should get going." True enough she was right. My wall clock read ten thirty. Time sure does fly when you're having fun. "Ok… see you… see you tomorrow Nepgear." Damn, the stuttering my voice is so annoying.

Smiling happily, then nodding, Nepgear leaves. I could've sworn I saw something in her eyes before she left. It looked to be a power symbol. Impossible, she was far away, just an illusion. But the strangest part of it was I saw them glow for a split second. This was getting crazy. Interesting, but crazy.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sleep eluded me last night as it did the night before. Much like the events of my last slumber, it was met with an odd dream. It started with me walking down the street rather early in the morning. Then with my name being called and being grabbed at. As I turned into the ally, I was met with the same gristly sight.

All my friends' dead, mangled, and hung from the wall with steaks. Upon seeing the culprit, it was myself… no, this wasn't me, it was a demon. But unlike last time, he had a smile on his face. How could someone smile after having done this?

I run, down a never ending street. He walks towards me, holding a stake in each hand. I'm sure that there are more steaks under the cloak he is wearing. Everything I do to avoid him is in vain. Suddenly appearing right in front of me, he just smiles.

His right hand grabs my face and lifts me up off the pavement. It's hard to make out his face, but there it is. That same, demonic smile. He utters the words. "You brought this upon yourself."

My eyes shot open when this happened. The same dream again? This time though, it had a little bit more added to it. I'm scared of this dream now. A sharp pain shoots through my head, causing me to jerk forward a little. The only thing I could do is let out a grunt of pain.

Sweat is dropping down my face; clearly this was one of those dreams.

Looking at the clock, I wasn't to shocked that it read 4:16am. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that I wouldn't get any more sleep tonight. If anything, that was welcome. After that dream, I don't want to go back to sleep, I'm scared to.

My worries would soon come to a halt, as my phone received a text message. At this hour in the morning I thought it would be Neptune. As soon as I looked at the I.D. however, my current hypothesis would prove to be incorrect.

"Noire? What's she doing up at this hour?"

Unlocking my phone, I opened the message. Why the hell couldn't she wait until morning to tell me whatever this is? But upon reading it, I could see why.

"Hey Jack, I know it's early and all, but I was wondering. Could you… talk to me about something? You can say no if you'd like, doesn't matter to me. Or if you're not even awake yet, just get to me in the morning will you?"

I'm curious as to what she wishes to discuss. Perhaps it's just something that can wait until we get to school. Or… if it really is something she really needs. Either way I'm still going to reply. Not like I have anything else better to do anyway.

"Don't worry, you didn't wake me. What is it you need?"

"Well, could we talk over the phone? I'd feel more comfortable that way."

Getting off my bed, I open my bedroom door. It's still pretty dark here, then again, it's almost 4:30. Stepping ever so lightly, I manage to slip pass Maurice's room. With that obstacle out of the way, I only have to tread the living room to exit through a window. I prefer to do most of my things outside.

Finally, I'm outside. Going down to Noire's contact, I click the call button.

*Ring*… *Ring*… "Jack! Th… thanks for calling." There are hints of nervousness in her voice. If she needed help, I would think she'd be straight forward about it.

"No problem, what do you need?"

"I… I sort of like this guy we go to school with. I don't know how to go about it. Neptune would just laugh at me. And the others wouldn't understand. You're the only one I could think of."

It's nice to know that I'm the only one that can help her with this. I wonder who the guy is though. Noire from my observations doesn't seem like the girl who would talk to others about her interests.

"I'm not too keen on the subject, but I'll see what I can do." That first part is true, I've never been in a relationship so I wouldn't know much about it. The only things I know truly are from Maurice. Even then he was vague and cryptic about it.

"Just be yourself, I know that sounds cliché, but it works. This guy totally would like a kind, good looking girl like yourself." Ok, letting my own personal thoughts spill out into this wasn't the best idea.

"You… you really think I'm good looking… and kind?" If I could see her face right now I bet she's blushing. For some reason I've had that effect on women lately.

"Hell yeah I do. You're more intelligent than most people if not all in the school. You also have regality on your side. Not to mention that your work ethic is great. From the few assignments we've had so far this year, you've given it your all. You'll do anything to get the job done perfectly."

Where in gods name is this all coming from? I know I already said she was good looking but now this? My ego must be soaring right now. That or I'm finally learning what it means to be a friend again.

"Thanks, that's very sweet of you. But I don't need compliments, I'm great after all." New observation, she has a very high pride. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." She whispers under her breath.

"What was that?"

"No… nothing! Oh… look at the time, see you at school."

As soon as she hangs up I'm left with more questions than answers. We haven't known each other for that long. Hell, we haven't even talked much. Yet there she was, asking me for relationship advice.

That wasn't even that long of a conversation. What really bugs me is how she hastily hung up when I asked her what she said. This raises the question, 'what was her real motive?'

It was obvious what she said was a lie. Enough of that, I need to get back inside. Just a short conversation and pondering have made it late enough to normally wake up. One things for sure, I need a shower.

* * *

Some time has passed since this morning. Right now I'm sitting in fourth hour waiting for class to start. Not surprising, Noire hasn't spoken a word to me all morning long. Every time I look her way, I find her staring at me, then quickly turning away.

The real surprise was that neither Uni or Vert gave me any sass until now. "Hey! Why did you bail on us last night?" I know that tone of voice all too well. It's the I'm pissed off more than you'll ever know voice.

"The same goes for you too Nepgear." Glad that I'm not the only one getting lynched by Uni. Vert is also behind Uni. It's clear that she's disappointed as well.

"You see… uh…" At this point no matter what I tell them they'll see it as a lie. "There was an internet down in our area." Thanks for saving me Nepgear, but next time don't say it so fast.

"Oh… and you two live near each other? Pretty suspicious if you both were trying to tell us that." Damn, Vert's on to us. On the outside, se doesn't look like the deductive type. I would've left that role to Blanc.

"Actually, she went over to Jacks place. Was going on and on about how…" Neptune is cut off by her sister suddenly getting up from her desk. Clearly Nepgear doesn't want something to be revealed to the rest of the world.

"Sis! Please don't tell anyone, I'm begging you!" I've never seen a girl so desperate. This is the fabled high school drama I've heard so much about. I don't know why she's getting embarrassed, we were just playing four goddesses online.

I think she means the accidental hand holding though. Or the fact that back there we had a total moment. So I can see why she would want to keep this private. Now that I think about it, I don't want this to get in the hands of the others.

"Ok, I didn't mean to rile up my little Nep Jr." I can't tell if Neptune is being sincere or just flat out lying. It's impossible to tell with that girl. It's impossible to tell with all of these girls.

"It was none of your business anyway Neptune." Noire finally spoke for the first time today. The sound of her voice was… relaxing to say the least.

"Noire, where have you been? Alone with no friends I guess?" Wow Neptune is cold. Noire has friends. All of us are friends after all.

"I do too have friends!" The amount of anger in her voice suggests that she may actually not have any friends. That's absurd, I'm her friend, and I'm sure deep inside Neptune is a friend too. This is getting too wild even for me.

"Well… Jack is my friend." Oh how I love it when they volunteer me for these sort of endeavors. She's not lying though, we are friends, just haven't gotten close to her yet. I'd like to, but I haven't had a good enough of an approach to do so until now at least. The others bonding moments came naturally.

This however is beyond the normal bonding moment. Noire took my right hand and began to squeeze it. I think this is to signify that we are close even though that's far from the truth. Her face is blushing the shade of a perfect tomato. And how could it not?

I think I know which guy she likes now. Turns out my ego was right after all. No girl would blush this much while holding the hand of a guy she was just friends with. It's only logical after all.

Who am I kidding? This hand holding feels nice. For the first time in many years, I feel alive and kicking. My heart is finally skipping beats. Do I really like Noire in that way? That can't be right, Nepgear is also on my mind like that. And so is Blanc on occasion.

My past self should've known it was going to end like this. Being divided amongst girls and die of a heart attack.

No… I can't do that. They're my friends. If I were to date one of them I'd betray them all. Besides, I don't think I can date them. They've been too nice to me in the past three days to think like this. Not to mention that I've only known them for a short time.

If I were to act on my feelings now, I'd only end up looking like a complete fool. Then they'd never want to talk to me again. I hate the idea of that, but it's more real than anything else at this point.

"Jack… you don't look ok." Noire says to me with concern in her voice. All this thinking is starting to make me light headed. Knowing what the source of this problem is, I decide now is the time to deal with it.

"Um, Noire." My face now pointing down to our intertwined hands. It's strange, at first glance from an outside party, we'd look like an actual couple. Getting the message, she takes her hand off slowly. Then after realizing what she just did, her face turns a new shade of red.

She's panicking, I don't know why she was the one holding my hand. The worst part was… I was enjoying every second of it. Every awkward second of it. I'm not going to go there though. Last time I got attached to someone it ended with them dying in a car wreck. Good times am I right?

Whatever is wrong with her at this point is an unknown. Three days isn't enough time to form a proper opinion of someone. You either have to be desperate, or just plain crazy to go for something like that.

But… why does my heart feel all weird all of a sudden? It's not only with Noire, it's also with a few more of them. That's insane, I can't be think these kind of thoughts this early in our friendship. Oh who am I kidding? These girls are the first friends I've had in years. So perhaps, I'm the desperate one.

Whichever path my life takes me, it'll have to wait. Class is starting, and I need a break from all of this.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The sunlight caresses my face in the mid early morning. Last nights sleep was surprisingly peaceful. No murder dreams or anything of the sort. Those dreams were starting to get annoying, even though I've only had two of them.

It seems so long ago that I met Neptune and the others. I feel like all of us are actual good friends now. Even though all of them have their own unique way of showing it, I like it none the less. Not to mention, I think a few of them like me, like like-like me.

This is more than likely my ego getting too high, but if I have the slightest bit of joy at this point, I'll take it. After my own living hell for those years, I think I deserve this feeling. Point is, life is pretty good at this point in time.

*Ring, Ring!* I just received a new text message. The message was sent from Blanc of all people. She's the last person I'd expect to text me. Might as well see what she has to say. "Hey Jack, I was wondering if you could my sisters and I that pool hall in town."

If this were any other person I'd decline in an instant, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll enjoy today. It's not like I have anything else better to do anyway. What the hell have I got to lose here?

"Sure, let's meet up there in an hour. If you need a ride, I can con Maurice to do it."

A few minutes later I get a reply. "It's fine, we can walk."

I personally find it rude to not give a girl a ride. But hey, better not upset her or else it could end badly. First things first though, I need to get my wallet. I do a lot of oddjobs around town that my money accumulates rather quickly. So today shouldn't be a problem.

Looking in my wallet, I see eighty dollars. I haven't had the urge to buy anything in weeks, today I should be set. The pool hall isn't that far from my place, so walking to it shouldn't be an issue.

I have ample funds to buy us all three lunches there then some. But more importantly than that, I get a chance. The chance being to hang out with Blanc, Rom, and Ram that is. All three of them have been really nice to me, it's time I pay them back a little.

No going back now. Today I'll pull out all the stops and show them a good time. I am so ready for a simple lunch and maybe a game of pool. One problem though, there's still an hour before I have to be there. And everybody knows time slows down when you're expecting something.

* * *

About forty-five minutes have passed and I'm just making my way out the door. As I said before, it's not that long of a walk, I could easily make it there in five, seven minutes tops. Just getting a head start of the crowd is all. As I make my way out of the door, Maurice calls to me.

"Hey Jack, where are you going?" I really don't want to have to deal with him today. Ever since I made friends with all of them he keeps blabbering on about dating and whatnot.

"Oh, I was just heading out to the pool hall." Not even lying on that part. Maurice doesn't seem all too convinced on his end. "uh huh, and you're sure you're not sneaking off to be with your lover?"

I hate it when he gets like this. If I say anything else though he'll just get more and more into this act. Even though he's the one watching over me, I still hate him at times. "Relax, I'm just yanking your chain."

"Whatever, I've got to get going or else I'll keep them waiting."

Smiling, my brother goes back to his bedroom to sleep again. I'll never understand how he can sleep all day. Enough of that thinking, I need to focus on my running. I open the door to a rather sunny looking world.

It's more serene than I remember it being. Closing the door behind me, I begin my run. If I want to get there, I'll have to run past my friends' apartment. It just so happens that my favorite lilac haired girl is out and about.

"Oh, hello Jack." Nepgear says to me while I'm running as the wild blue hedgehog would. I don't have time to chat. Maybe if Maurice didn't keep me busy with all of his joking I could. But that's not the case I'm in right now.

"Sorry Nepgear, don't have time to talk." Looking at her face as I run by, is almost saddening. Her expression is a mix of disappointment and unsettled. I feel bad now, I should talk to her. No I can't I have prior commitments.

I'll make it up to her later somehow. Damn I feel bad about that. Nothing I can do about it now, I'm already away from the complex. It only takes a couple minutes to get to the pool hall from here, no pressure. From the speed I'm going at, I should arrive shortly.

Sure enough, standing outside of the pool hall is Blanc. I thought Rom and Ram were supposed to be with her. Surely she wouldn't leave her sisters out of something for her own benefit. I mean she can be cruel at times, but not that cruel.

"Hey *haa* Blanc. Sorry *haa* to keep you *haa* waiting." Now I just sound ridiculous. Gasping for air is the best I can do. As well as an apology? I'm not mister smooth I know that much now.

"It's ok." At least she's not pissed at me for my tardiness. Still though, Rom and Ram should be with her. "Hey, I thought your sisters would be joining us?"

"Oh they… decided last minute they'd rather sleep." Hmm… now who does that remind me of? I could see it in Ram, but Rom doesn't seem like that kind of person. If anything, she'd break through her shell and try to convince Ram of her side.

That's not the case at all. Little kids never turn down a meal outside of the house. This is getting more suspicious by the second. At least I still have one friend here. Thinking back to Nepgear, I wonder if I should've invited her. Nah, I think she'd say something along the lines of not wanting to third wheel it.

"Well, ok then. Shall we?" Going up to the entrance, I open the door. For a hot tempered person, Blanc has extremely good manners. Not only did she thank me for holding the door, she also bowed slightly to show gratitude.

The inside of the Pool Hall isn't anything special. It has maroon colored carpet with wooden walls. Booths and tables are in the first half of the area. The other half has pool tables and an arcade system with sixty games on it.

Blanc has a little white purse on her. I won't deny that it adds to her cute meter, but I won't say it publicly. "Son of a Bitch! I forgot my money!" I can finally tell that even the slightest things will make her angry if provoked enough.

"It's alright, my treat." Not like I have any other choice. Part of me just wants to get rid of my money so I can't spend it later on stupid things. Another part of me says that I can't leave a lady hungry in a place of good food. Curse my gentleman's nature.

"Thanks… are you sure though? I'm not that hungry anyways." It's like she's begging to be hit on right now. Control your emotions Jack. Don't want to get into another internal conflict that will end up in the psych ward. "It's fine, you'll love the food here. It's to die for."

"Th… thanks." Damn, she's blushing. At this rate I'm going to have to convert to a new religion. Mormonism or Islam? Either way I get a harem. It seems like all of them show base traits of liking me, some more than others. This is all getting too weird even for me.

Nodding, we begin to walk up to the counter. Upon arrival we are met with a friendly smile who fills the customers with warmth. "Hello, may I take your order?" A simple question, but so hard. There are so many things I want to get. I can't though, I'll ruin this figure that I have.

"I'll just have a plain cheeseburger with a side of fries. Oh and a coke." Short and simple. Not to mention a classic meal that anyone can enjoy. Blanc prepares to place her order. "I'll have the catfish sandwich, a side of onion rings, and sweet tea."

I didn't take Blanc as the type of person to order onion rings. Nice choice I'll give her that. After receiving the bill, we find a booth in the back. It's one of those booths where only one person can be on either side. Surprisingly, Blanc said we should sit there, more peaceful and all.

It's funny, from a distance we look like a… damn. Is she trying to get us to look like a couple? Yep, looks like I'm getting a harem. Personally, I couldn't stand to be with multiple women. One would be enough for me. Like that's ever going to happen though. What girl in the right mind would like a guy like me?

Pondering these kinds of things takes a lot out of you. It's making me hungrier by the minute. This would soon subside at the arrival of out meal. Thanking the waitress, and properly salting my burger, time to dig in.

It's like a little slice of heaven. Screw that fancy food from Italy; I'll take these burgers any day. Blanc appears to be enjoying her food as well. Even though her manners are well, she doesn't like to talk much while having lunch with somebody.

To my surprise, it is Blanc who breaks the silence. "I've never played pool before, could you teach me how?" Oh lord why must you torment me so? Normally teaching someone the fundamentals of pool wouldn't be an issue. Knowing my luck though it'll turn into something I never intended to do in the first place.

I don't give a damn about it anymore. If I'm going to have a lot of weird moments with these girls then so be it. A harem is still out of the question, that's just unnatural. "I see no harm in it, we'll give it a go after our food then." That's the best I can offer her at the moment. I at least want to return to Maurice with news that it was just normal friends having lunch and playing pool. Otherwise he'll never shut up about it.

Ever since I moved in with him, I think he's just been worried that I'll remain a recluse all my life. Can't say I blame him, a few years ago it seemed rather likely. Those days are over, I have some great new friends now. One of which I can say I've hung out with in public.

"That was nice…" Glad to hear that Blanc enjoyed her lunch. I was worried that she would've been one of those people that has to get used to the cooking around a new area. I'll have to remind myself to ask where each of them moved from. That can wait until later, we have some pool to play.

"Yeah, the food here is great." My plate sits empty, so does hers. You said you wanted to learn pool, now's as good of a time as any." Nodding to me, she stands up. Leaving five dollars as a tip on the table, we head over to the pool area.

Today it's pretty crowded back here. Not to mention the amount of smokers in the area today. Personally I don't mind cigarettes that much. Blanc on the other hand… doesn't take too kindly to them. She puts a hand over her nose, she must really not like the smell.

There is only one open table at the moment. We're lucky, I thought for sure we'd not be able to get one. Around this table are wall racks with cue's on them. Taking two standard sized cue's off the wall and walking back to the table. Of course the first thing to do is apply that blue cube that nobody knows what it's called.

Blanc copies my movements and applies it to her own cue. I insert two quarters in the slot and push in. The pool balls come to an opening where I take them and set them up. After that's said and done, I can see Blanc making a mental note for later.

"You want to break Blanc?" It's only polite after all. She must not be into speaking today, because all she does is nod at me.

"I… don't exactly know how to hold this." It's adorable how she's fiddling with the cue. I kind of feel bad for the first few moments watching her place it in various holding positions. None of them were correct to say the least.

"haha, here let met help you." Placing my body to her side is the best angel of approach. If I get straight behind her then it'll look and feel extremely awkward. Putting my hands on hers for guidance isn't right? My hands are directly on hers, placing her fingers in the right holding position.

Not going to say that I do like the position we're in, but it isn't all that bad. "Alright, the point of this part of the game is to break the formation nice and good. Hit the cue ball with a lot of force." Again with a simple nod, she prepares to hit.

When she does however… the formation breaks up extremely well. Three striped balls went in as well as a solid. That settles it, she's stripes. "Since you hit a ball in, as long as you didn't scratch, or hit the cue ball in that is, you get an extra hit."

"Ok…" She hits the cue ball again with great might. A few more striped balls go in the pockets. This is going to be a losing game for me I can already tell. I'm an average at pool and that's being generous about it. Blanc is good, too good to be a first timer at this game.

"I'm going to get us some milkshakes, what flavor would you like?" This isn't me being a gentlemen. It's sort of a tradition for Maurice and I to get milkshakes while we're playing pool. Might as well keep that tradition alive even though he isn't here. "Vanilla… please."

Something tells me that the please she just said took a lot to actually get out. Walking up to the counter again, I'm met with the same friendly smile as before. I don't need to hear what she's about to say to know what to do. "I'll take two medium vanilla milkshakes please." Truth be told, vanilla is my favorite of the flavors.

I hand the cashier the money required, then something catches my eye, well ears more like. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I know that voice, it's all to familiar to forget. 'Andrew' I thought to myself. When I look back at the table area, Andrew is rubbing his head. Blanc just hit a ball off the table by accident and it hit him.

"Look, I'm sorry now leave me alone." That's not an apologetic tone, that's more like a pissed off at you tone. I know what's about to happen, but I'd rather not get involved. "Can I get that to go now?" Sensing the impendent doom, that's all I can do for now.

"Wait, you're that bitch who punched me! You're dead." He gets up to Blanc's face and stares at her with provoking eyes. I know Andrew is an idiot but I never knew he liked knocking on death's door. "Get the hell away from me!" Ladies and Gentlemen, Mt. Blanc has just erupted.

"What's a raisin chest like you going to do about it?" Does he not remember she was the one who broke his nose? Good lord I knew he was a few screws loose but this is ridiculous. "What did you just say!? No one mocks my chest!" Lifting her leg up slightly, since he's so close to her, he starts to fall down.

He's met by a knee which hits his chin. In the air now, this last part makes me cringe. She took her pool cue and broke it over his head. That didn't just look painful, it sounded painful. The cashier is in total shock. From the looks of it, she's never witnessed this sort of event before. Taking my wallet, I pull out a twenty.

"This should cover the pool cue." I know Andrew had it coming, but I still have to pay for it. The cashier doesn't seem to mind, if anything she was on Blanc's side. Another employee walks up to our friendly cashier with two Styrofoam cups. Upon being placed in front of me, I pick them up. Again leaving a tip for the food.

Two straws are in my pocket as I walk over to wear Blanc is. I know the look in her eyes, it's nothing more than pure anger. She had all rights to as well, self defense and all. When actually get a better look at her though, she's completely changed. Her arm rises again to hit an already injured Andrew on the ground. As much as I'd like to see him squirm, I just feel sorry for him.

"Blanc! I think it's time we get out of here." Her eyes return to there normal state. The look of sudden realization fills them up. She didn't mean to break the pool cue I'm sure, it just happened. "Oh… I'm sorry, I got a little carried away there." Hell yes you did, and it was awesome for every moment. Offering her a hand, I lift her up off what I presume unconscious asshole. We head for the door, halfway to the exit I hand her the milkshake.

"It's alright, bitch had it coming." If I could take one lesson from Maurice it'd be that. The sun is brighter than I remember it being. Directly outside of the entrance is a sidewalk, which dips off into a slightly inclined street. From what she just said to me, we have to hop off into the street to get to the other side.

She slightly stumbles on the drop, causing her to drop her milkshake. The street takes care of the rest. Being inclined, the cup roles down it too fast to catch up to. Even if we did catch it, tiny pieces of asphalt have rolled into it. I think she actually has a kid side to her, she has watery eyes from the drop.

"Here, you can have mine." Taking off the lid, I lift my straw out of it and offer it to her. I knew I was a gentlemen but this is ridiculous. At a loss of words, she just wipes her tears with her sleeve. "Re… really?"

"Sure, I don't mind, you'll like more than I will anyways." I offer her a comforting smile as I say this.

"Thanks… we can… always share it you know?" What is this 1950? Boys and girls don't share milkshakes anymore. I'm not one of those boys though. If that's what she truly wishes then who am I to argue?

"Alright." Placing my straw back in, she follows and does the same. My hand is holding the cup naturally. I'll try not to drink when she's drinking but these things happen. Walking with her isn't so bad really. It's just two friends walking together… while sharing a milkshake.

Her house isn't too far away, I wouldn't mind if it was further though. This is the most relaxing thing I've done all week. No avatars making out, or almost kissing someone in a dog pile. Just nice and peaceful walking.

My thoughts grow too distant as I go to take a drink. Neither of us have to bend a little since I'm as short as she is. It just so happens that she decides to take a drink as well. Our faces mere inches apart. Remember when I said this was relaxing? It just became weird.

Both of us pull our heads back rapidly. As well as both our cheeks having the most delightful shade of red stained on them. Why can't I just have a normal day this week? I don't know if I liked it better before or after they showed up now. And I have four years to spend with them?

Somebody save me from my own personal hell.

A break finally occurs when I see her house not to far from where we're walking. As soon as I drop her off I'm going home. If she asks me to stay for a little I'll just say Maurice needs me. 'Sigh.' I can't wait until tonight, then I can get some peace from this insanity.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**A/N: For all readers who think this will go a harem route, I assure you it's not like that. That is all, we now return to our regularly scheduled fanfic.**

It's only an hour before noon at the moment. Since mine and Blanc's lunch nothing has happened. And before you ask, I just walked her home and that was it. Yet, something ominous was felt during that time.

Islam is looking like a good option at this point. The amount of weird moments this week have exceeded my bounds. I'm not going to lie, these past few days have been more eventful than the past years. Whether that's sad or not is a mystery.

Sunday is more relaxing than it usually is for some reason. I think I just need a break from them for a few hours. With all this chaos, I can't tell if things are good or bad in my life right now. Thinking back to yesterday's events I'm pretty lucky actually.

I have eight great friends who somehow transformed me. As well as a chance to start again with this whole social ideal. Enough of this weird thinking, it's time to kick back and relax for the day.

Standing up from the living room couch proves harder than expected. Having a peaceful state mind is tiring I guess. Being the last day in the weekend means I only have so long before I have to return to school. This time it'll be a full school week. I'm not sure if I can handle that much.

In my room now, it's as good of a time as any to play Four Goddesses Online. The usual routine of my computer booting up takes its effect. Now I have the game downloaded so I don't have to go to the main site. 'Logged on.'

My avatar appears in front of the cave I entered with Uni, Nepgear, and Vert last time. That was a conflicted night, both sides of mine want to forget it happened and still retain the memory. It's complicated really, I'll try to keep these thoughts at a minimum.

'No time for that' I thought. I think today I'll just focus on leveling my character up to keep up with everyone else. I haven't seen some of their characters though, which puts me at a disadvantage. Also, it might impress a few of them if they don't have to defend me so much.

Today I'll train in a yellow area, for the challenge that is. If I go directly into a red area there's a good chance I'll get creamed. So the better choice is a little danger with decent leveling.

I almost forgot, from my previous quests I've got quite a bit of money. I wonder if I can get any good items in the nearest town. Opening the map I study it intensely. The closest town from looking at my map is… Lowee? So far I know a person from Planeptune, Lastation, and Leanbox. If any of them side with Lowee I don't know it yet. Better get walking, it's still kind of far away.

Ten minutes of walking later I'm only halfway there. Then I suddenly get a thoughtflare, I have teleportation items on me. Among the gear I received from Vert there was also teleport scrolls to all the major cities. Damn I'm slow at times.

Scrolling through my inventory, I find a Lowee teleport scroll. The animations in this game are pretty sweet. My avatar actually takes the scroll out of his pouch, studies it for a moment before bursting into flames. The avatar then appears in the center of the city.

It's… breathtaking to say the least. When the description said it was something fantasy I thought they were kidding. Some of the buildings are mushrooms. Like the Telvanni in Morrowind. This is just like my childhood imaginations, except real this time.

Looking around, I take notice of stalls set up all over the area. I forgot Lowee is mainly a non-combat character land. Hits all the ingredient stalls. Hardly any weapon stands are present. I'll have to visit Lastation later to get gun upgrades. Leanbox to get a better sword.

"Come people don't be shy. Best potions in all the land." A man with a well maintained stall calls to everyone in the area. I do need to gets some healing potions. It also couldn't hurt to grab an agility one as well. Hell there isn't a potion I don't need. Damn you sales person guy.

Walking up to the stand, he has many bottles on display. One of these bottles is apparently valuable enough for him to look at me when I pick it up for examination. "You have a keen eye. That right there is the elixir of immortality. One sip and you'll be lifted out of death's hands." I like the sound of that.

"Whoa…" The price on it is what I expected. Almost all my money will go into one potion if I buy this. The ability is good, and you get five sips before it's all used up. He must've worked hard to make something this rare. I'll buy it, it'll prove most useful for what I'm about to do.

My avatar hands him a huge sack of gold, and in exchange, he hands me the elixir. 'Sigh' I can't believe I just bought this. No trade backs on player made items though, game policy. "Thank you shopkeeper."

"Ah hell, just call me William, everyone else does." I'm not sure who "Everyone else" is but I'll take his word for it. Now that I think about it, he gave me a really good price on my item. He might be as crazy as I thought he was. "Ok, if I have any other alchemical needs I'll come to you."

Waving his hand at me, I take my leave. Still not knowing where any good dungeons or anything else in this game is, time for some questing. Like most towns would have, this one has a building for all of that. It's called a guild, the Lowee guild to be exact.

Perhaps there are some good quests to help me. The inside is comforting, simple yet gets your attention. There are hologram screens all over the place displaying information I can barely follow. Only one place where I can actually get answers to my question, the front desk of course.

"Hello, I'd like to get a moderately difficult quest for my level."

"Hello sir, it appears that there is one of that nature. The task is to kill a monster, more specifically an ancient dragon." Great, another one of those dragons. I was barely able to defeat the last one I faced, so I might be a little hesitant to accept.

Also, that's in my level range. Last I checked it was in the black for me. Then again I have gone up some odd levels since last time. Not forgetting my new revolver. Alright, what have I really got to lose here? "It also appears that those two girls are doing the same quest."

Turning around I'm met with two very young, well avatar young looking girls. Both have the same one piece white swimsuit with lines of pink on it as well as grey areas. Another article they share is matching style boots. Their hair and eyes differ from each other. One's is light blue with pink eyes. The other's light pink with blue eyes. At a distance they appear same in hair length, upon closer inspection, the pink haired girls is slightly, and I mean slightly longer.

"Hey, if it's alright with you I'd like to accompany the both of you. Leveling purposes only."

"Sure! The more the merrier!" The pink haired girl says unnaturally loud.

"Sure… you can come…" Her light blue counter part is the polar opposite, being very shy. This reminds me of someone, I just can't remember who at the moment. I shouldn't be thinking anyway, I'm playing to relax after all.

"Great, I'll sign you three up as a party." That's both good and bad at the same time. It means we all get the same amount of experience from battle. The bad part though is whoever is deemed V.I.P. gets the most items from the quest.

Ah going on a quest, I feel like I'm in lord of the rings now. Damn that's a good trilogy, the books were pretty good as well. Walking away from Lowee doesn't take to much out of me, the twin players I'm with are having a harder time with it though. It's not like they were actually born and raised here.

Surprisingly, the path to the dungeon is monster free today. It's sad really, I was hoping for some good combat to level. The possibility is that they made this path monster free to lead you into thinking the dungeon was easy.

"I'm… scared." The blue haired girl speaks finally.

"Don't be silly, it's just another dusty old dungeon." Her pink haired counterpart offers some comforting words. This seems to work as the blue haired girl perks up slightly and begins walking forward again.

The gate to the dungeon looks like you would expect it, rusted in some parts, and overall old. My avatar kicks down this metal gate. If I had this kind of strength in real life I'd be invincible. Alas this world is only virtual, I couldn't get that strong in real life. Don't have either the genetics or the patience for it.

The interior of this place isn't that off from what I pictured it being. Stone walls with overgrowth coming out of them. Torches still lit even though it's impossible to be lit that long. And coffins, it's always coffins in these places. I never understood why all dungeons have to have then, they're unnecessary.

Skeletons burst from the coffins at the end of the hall. These enemies have a green cursor on them, shouldn't be too much of an issue then. I pull out my revolver and ready my blade. Just because they're weak doesn't mean they don't have a few surprises up their sleeves.

Six skeletons are standing before me. Two swords are swung down at my avatar. Side stepping the first blade, the second one is parried by my sword. The skeleton with his sword away from his body is met with an upward slash. The next one is shot by my revolver.

Two of them down is a good start, but not good enough. My twin party members take a formation for a double spell. I should've guessed they were mages from the way their staves look. "Ice Coffin!" Both yell.

Ice forms at the end of both of their staves then shoots out a star made of ice. This is a wide area spell which hits all of the skeletons enough to leave all their health in the red. Now is the time to strike, I'm not sure if NPC's can heal or not but let's not take any chances.

My sword goes through the ribcage of one skeleton. To get him off my revolver goes to his skull and I fire. The bones become lifeless as they're sent flying back. The bullet also penetrated both layers of the bone and hit another skeleton. Even though they're just bone and magic, they're tough to kill.

The shot boneman is staggering; my sword goes to my side as I run up to it. Drawing back my arm to gain force for the strike is important. I want to make sure this thing dies for good this time around. The blade touches the bottom of the pelvis and slices up. Cleaved straight in half. Looking over my shoulder, the twin players are finishing off the remaining enemies.

The pink haired one has smashed the animated bones into the ground. Blue haired just poked her staff through the chest of her enemy. With the battle done, the end screen pops up. Enough experience to get to level 18 now. As well as a few ingredients I may be able to sell to William later.

The ground starts to rumble. With it the bones of the twice dead skeletons move to a point. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!?" I yell out as the bones begin to form an even larger enemy.

It's about twice my size made of bones of course. The weapon it wields is a huge hammer that takes both of its hands to carry. Not only are bones its structural support, they're also what makes up its armor. I notice this since it has an unusually large collar guard.

"Your souls will be mine puny mortals!" That doesn't spell cliché at all now does it.

We don't have a choice, we have to fight. My sword arm rises up and now the blade is pointing to the ground. The revolver arm simply extends out and the barrel faces it. The twins get into a symmetrical stance. Holding their staves in the right on ones case, and left on the others. Their feet also cross with each others to complete this stance.

"I'll bathe in your blood!" Yet another cliché this game has offered so far.

Skeleton King runs at us readying his hammer for a strike. Knowing full and well what's going to happen I brace.

Nothing happens though, my health hasn't changed and I'm still in the same spot I was in before. Opening my eyes I realize that I have an ice shield in front of me. Looking back, the twins have magic coming out of their staves from powering the shield.

Once the shield drops fire my revolver at dandy dick over here. His health bar slightly decreases, but not by much. His hammer slams down right next to me shattering the earth it hit. Part of my life goes down from the shock of the impact.

His shoulder is facing right towards me, his hammer must be really heavy. Swinging my sword, he lets out a cry. "Ah! You'll pay for that!" Does he really have to yell everything? Much like my first ancient dragon, his defense sucks but he hits harder than hell.

This time he gets up rather quickly and prepares another attack. This time at the twins I'm with however. Swinging the huge maul down upon them, both stare at it like deer in headlights.

"*Clang!* My sword meets the maul before it reaches them. The ground bellow me is caving in from how much for there is here. My avatar is losing health rapidly from being pushed into a pancake. The twins cast what I can assume is icy wind to blow him off of me.

"Thanks…" If they hadn't pulled that I'd be dead right about now. I'm not sure we can take him though. My health has been restored with a potion now, but he's crazy strong. I can't give up, I'm not going to let a party member die on me. I need to stop watching Sword Art Online.

My revolver fires again at our enemy. This time a hand comes up to block them. Since he needs two hands to hold that maul of his, now's the optimal time to strike. The twin sorceresses cast the same spell as earlier. What was it again?

"…"

"Ice Coffin!" Now I remember the name of it. Good lord I have bad memory today.

The star of ice is sent flying towards the skeleton king. I add to the speed because I hit it when it flew past me. One of his eyes starts to glow again before being pinned against a wall by ice.

Now it's his health bar that's rapidly dropping by the second. If I didn't these two here to help me then I would've been done for. I'm kind of lucky now that I think about it. Maybe one day these two can do a quest with the other friends I have.

He lets out a groan, before his body crumbles into dust. Bone meal is the correct term but who gives a shit as to what you call it. Now that that's out of the way, time to check the exp screen.

"Sweet! I leveled up!" The pink haired girls says enthusiastically.

"Me… too." Blue haired one still shy from all of this.

I'm no different, I'm level 20 now, one of the great milestones of leveling. I must have a million years to go before I'm caught up with Vert though. I'm happy with my level, and the perk upgrade I picked. It's called lightning shot, a move that I can use once every two minutes that deals massive damage to the target.

"Ok, there's only one room left. The boss room, the reason why we're here."

Both girls nod and heal up. Walking just a little distance, a door appears leading to the final room. If this ancient dragon is anything like the last one, I might not be up to the challenge.

No backing out now, I have to face the horrors in the boss room if I'm to improve. Onward to victory!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The boss' door slowly opened when all three of us touch it. The room behind the door isn't what I expected it to be at all. Its pitch black and no noise is coming from it. Maybe someone got to the boss first. Impossible, we would've seen someone pass by while we were fighting.

"Hey, anybody home!?" The pink haired girl yells out to no one in particular. I don't even know what she's trying to accomplish by doing that. It's like she's begging for us to get ambushed.

The yelling does do something however. The room begins to tremble and shake. Torches upon torches that are lining the wall light up. This is something ripped straight out of a fantasy movie I swear. With this new light, we can get a clear look at the boss.

To say he's terrifying would be an understatement. It looks almost identical to the one that I defeated. Except this ones scales are more pointed out, it's one and a half times larger than that one, and its horns make it look like it has a crown atop its head.

Looking at its health bar closely, I see the enemy name written 'King Ancient Dragon." Damn this is going to be hard. If a regular one was that difficult I don't want to imagine the pain I'll endure from this battle.

The dragon gets up on two feet and stares at us with a look of malice. My twin companions are scared of this, can't say I blame them. But if we're going to have any chance of beating this bastard we've got to pull out all of the stops.

"*ROAR!*" Fire breath shoots from his mouth directly towards our avatars. The twins clearly too scared to put up a shield, it's up to me. From my inventory I select shield bullet. It's a special round that once fired will create an ethereal shield to negate the attack. Not only that, but it's reflected back at it, much like Vert's magical shield she used to defend me.

Getting into an offensive stance is put on hold momentarily. Turns out the more ancient the dragon, the more times it breaths at you. I don't have anymore shield bullets on me. In other words… we're doomed.

That's what I thought at least. The second wave of hell fire shot from its mouth towards us. Before it was able to reach us though, a barrier appeared. 'Ice' I thought. Looking over my shoulder, like last time they are in a stance with magic pouring from their staves. They saved me from damage, more importantly… death.

The dragon this time out of breaths prepares for the physical part of its combat. Readying my sword and revolver much like I did when I fought those skeletons, I prepare for the impending fight as well.

Both twins stand ready for defensive purposes. I believe neither of them is much of a combatant. This will not matter in the slightest, all I have to do is dodge its claw attacks and finish off its health. This shouldn't be hard, that reflected breath knocked his health down to half its amount.

The dragon and I stare at each other. Waiting for one to make a move on the other. Our eyes meet on this psychological battlefield that we won't break. The dragon is impatient however and decides to charge at us.

The only thing I can do right now is charge right back at it. His left claw comes down on me. If this hits it'll be fatal. I just need to go faster! Running as fast as it will let me, I manage to slide away from the claws impact. Sliding now between its legs, I point my revolver up and fire. 'BANG!"

"ROOOOOOOOAR!" I can tell that pissed him off. He charges at me again this time with only a quarter of health left. Hopefully I can pull of another slide and shoot his taint again.

The dragon has other plans for our battle though. Before I get the chance to really pick up speed, his right claw grabs me and lifts me up. Right now in the air, I believe I know what's coming next. There is no other fate than death right her.

The twins look in shock as I'm being crushed by the claw. My health bar is decreasing from the amount of force its applying to this grip. If it's one thing I get from this it's dragons are dicks.

"Ice Coffin!" The twins got over there fear, and are now trying to save me. The dragon looks at the star made of solid ice. It doesn't get too good of a look though, after a second or two the ice collided with its head. Its health went down to the lower red zone from this. In response, it throws me towards them and I land in between their avatars.

The feeling of virtual ground, I never want to let it go again. The dragon is still thrashing all over the place from its pain. I thought I would've died there for a second. Then two rays of hope appeared before me. "Thank you, I owe you one."

Both offer me a hand up, I take it and my avatar is back on his feet. Getting a grip on the ground, I ready myself for combat once more. There really isn't a need for more combat at this point. Whenever the dragon hits a wall out of pain, it damages itself more. It's not as cool saying 'the wall killed it' so might as well.

Once again the dragon looks my in the eyes with malice. Even on its death bed it's going to be like this? I'll kill it in the worst way possible if that's the case of things. Pointing my revolver at the now still dragon, I select the skills menu.

'Lightning Shot' is the skill I selected for the kill. The barrel extends another inch or two and the chamber spreads out widely. I can tell already that this is going to pack a mean punch.

The dragon still standing still doesn't give a damn that I'm about to end its pathetic existence.

"Vaya Con Dios you son of a bitch!" The lightning shot is released. At what appears to be mach three speed, it pierces its heart. As the last of the dragons health depletes from that one shot, its eyes go black, and it lay there dead.

"It's dead… I can't believe you beat it." The blue haired girl speaks to me. I can't take this as my victory. We are a temporary party after all.

"We beat it you mean. If it wasn't for that Ice coffin, I'd be dead." I'm not even kidding about that part.

"Yeah, we are pretty awesome. You don't have to praise us though." The pink haired girl seems rather cocky. Well… they are pretty awesome I won't deny that. "Anyway, let's add each other to our friends' lists. Perhaps we could quest again sometime."

"Sure! I'm Ram and this is my sister Rom." Holy shit, I've been playing with these two and I didn't notice it? It all makes sense now that I think about it more. I wonder if they knew it was me behind the avatar.

"Oh…hey it's me Jack."

"Ja…Jack?" Rom says.

"Sweeterific, you are awesome at this game." I'm try to be at least.

"Ok, so we've gotten that out of the way, let's turn in the quest." Both girls' avatars smile at mine then walk on my sides. To my left is Rom, to my right is Ram. Leaving the dungeon with a lot of loot in tow, I feel pretty good. Even with my crazy friends around, it's relaxing… sort of.

Upon exiting, we can now use a scroll to teleport back to the city of Lowee. Rom however knows the actual spell in this game to teleport a party. Not wanting to use a scroll or walk back, I take her offer.

The animation for this is all of us holding hands in a circle then being lifted up by a strange and mysterious light. When the light clears and the world returns to normal, we're outside of the Lowee guild.

Opening the door, the same woman was still sitting at the desk. When she saw us, she looked shot. I'll bet she didn't think we'd make it back alive. Boy did we prove her wrong on that one. "We're here to turn in our quest."

"I see, it says here you actually killed it. Color me impressed." She then hands us a 'shit load' of credits and a few more items such as a new weapon schematic for me. Rom and Ram get the ingredients reward for the quest.

Next time I'm in Lastation I'll get some weapon parts to build these machines. They could prove most useful in combat and non-combat alike. "Well girls, I've got to get off here. See you at school tomorrow."

"Bye!"

"Goodbye…"

Logging out after a hard as hell quest, I check the time. I started a little after eleven this morning and now it's four in the afternoon. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Guess the reason those years went by so slow was because I wasn't having any fun.

It wasn't all bad really. Sure it was a shock that I was partying with those two but I got over it. It's still early in the afternoon, I might take a nap here shortly. Naps are the greatest on days like this. The time is perfect as well, right now the sun is shing through my window all across my bed.

Then again, I can't take a nap right now. I won't be able to sleep tonight if I do. So I'm just going to see what Maurice is doing right now.

Walking out of my room I see Maurice sitting on the living room couch watching Law & Order SVU. Going up to the couch I take a seat one cushion away from him. Last time I got too close he almost choked me to death from "Playing around."

He doesn't pay much mind to my entrance. Instead he still watches the TV very intently. Good lord he has less of a life than I do. Sure it's a good show but not good enough to be this lost in it. The acting isn't that good anyways.

Before I can get too focused on my thoughts, my phone goes off in my pocket. Just when I thought things were finally getting normal around here. Looking at who it's from it's none other than my neighbor Neptune. "Hey! Whatcha doing?"

I'm not even shocked by this. The amount of chaos she's caused me is nothing compared to her insanity. "Couldn't you just come outside to talk?"

"Hmmmm, you raise a point peasant. Come with me to the splendid outdoors." I swear I'm ten seconds away from just throwing my phone. Can she be serious for ten seconds? I'm starting to wander how she even made it to high school. Logically speaking, she should still be in elementary school.

The outdoor sun hits me with much force. It takes a couple moments for my eyes to adjust to these new conditions. Once they do however, I'm met with an unusually close smiling face. "Ah!"

"Relax it's just little old me."

"You just gave me a shock is all." Picking myself off the ground I begin to walk a little. She quickly follows behind and is making all sorts of weird sounds. When I turn to face her she's normal, acting like a little angel.

"So why did you want to talk to me?"

"I am sooooo bored right now and you're the only one I could think of." I'm flattered that I'm her go to person to talk to. But could she possibly have another person to annoy at this time? Oh well, I'm spending four years of high school with her, might as well get used to it now.

"So what do you wish to talk about?"

"Well…" She's blushing, that's never a good thing in my case. Whenever someone blushes around me a weird moment always pops up. "After school on Tuesday… could you come to my room and…"

'Climb the stairs to adulthood?' Damn my impure mental process. Surely it's something reasonable or this is all just one elaborate joke. I'm the slightest bit curious as to what she wants me to do now.

"Help me with my homework!?" What? She built up that shy and innocent moment to ask if I'll help her with homework. It's official, she belongs in the asylum with the rest of the nut cases.

"I suppose, just no more acting like that ok?"

"This isn't an act…" Now she's looking at me with shy eyes. The blush on her cheeks must've been fake though, they're gone now. At least this one doesn't make me feel weird. That could be my insatiable desire to hit her over the head though.

"Fine, after school Tuesday I'll help you with your school work." This earns me a Neptune shriek of joy and a hug. From all the hugs I've received this week, hers doesn't feel so bad. As I said before, it could just be me wanting to hit her for being an idiot.

Pushing her off me I make her an offer she's sure not to refuse. "I'm the one cooking at my place tonight. You and Nepgear are both welcome to come if you'd like."

"You mean it? I'll go get Nep Jr. right away!" She runs to her apartment faster than I can say it's in an hour. Oh well, might as well go back and get dinner started. When I turn around to face my apartment, something jumps on my back and clamps to it.

Neptune had just run back and jumped on me. "Onward to a glorious feast hahaha."

She's heavier than she looks, my back is about to give out. Or that could just be me being weak. "Help! Help! Get her off of me!" Now I'm running and screaming like an idiot in front of my apartment.

From the back, Nepgear can be seen giggling at my struggle.

* * *

Both Nepgear and Neptune have been waiting in my living room watching shows with Maurice. This is the first time they've actually met him outside of his car on the way to and from school.

Neptune's not paying much mind to the program, probably not something she'd enjoy anyway. Nepgear being her sisters polar opposite is enjoying the show. She's even tried to guess you the culprit is before the end. By the time the episode is over, Nepgear and Maurice had made a game out of it.

Dinner's ready, wait there while I get it to you." The table we have only seats four people. So instead we're all eating in the living room and watching Family Feud. Tonight's dish is pork chops with broccoli and mashed potatoes. One of my favorites to cook as well as to eat.

Taking a few plates and filling them with the three items, I make sure Neptune's plate has a little more Broccoli than everyone else's. Being our guests, Neptune and Nepgear get the first plates along with a glass of lemonade.

Maurice and his girlfriend are the next to receive their food. Finally I set my plate last. In the living room, there's only one more comfortable seat, the middle cushion of the couch between Neptune and Nepgear.

Maurice and Maria take the love seat in the living room. Ten bucks says Maurice set it up this way. He's always trying to get me to start dating. I'm not in the mood for it yet, I've only met these girls five days ago.

Halfway through the episode of Family Feud, Neptune is finished with her meal. Except one of the foods served hasn't been touched. I'm not surprised really, I knew she'd do this. What a waste of perfectly good broccoli. Nepgear enjoyed all of her meal, not a single bite left on her plate.

There's something I enjoy about Nepgear more than her sister. Is it how she actually has manners? Neptune just went to the kitchen and helped herself. Nepgear on the other hand asked if she could have more. Naturally I said she could and I even went and got her seconds.

At the end of the episode, all of our plates are empty. Except Neptune's broccoli portion of the plate. I don't even care anymore. Both of them had an enjoyable meal and that's all that mattered. The time on the living room clock reads seven thirty.

"Goodness, sis we must get going."

"Ok I'm coming…" Neptune must be really exhausted from all that eating she did. The duo leave the apartment and here it is just the three main residents. Taking all of our plates and putting them in the sink, I decide I should catch some early sleep.

Plopping on my bed feels so amazing. All the tension from the day is draining away in a matter of moments. My eyelids get heavy, until they can no longer stay open. With that I drift of to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Ding!… Ding!… Ding!"

The final bell has rung for the day. These days just keep getting longer and longer. Now I know what Maurice was talking about all those years. I thought he was just joking, I was wrong. I was horribly wrong! Now I'll always take his advice.

Peeking out of the band room after I get my bag and other things, I'm blasted with a wave of students trying to get out of the building. Why the hell is it so crowded today of all days? Nothing around here makes any sense, it's either complete chaos or a disaster lately. Helping Neptune with her studies isn't going to be a walk in the park.

That almost slipped my mind, it's Tuesday and I'm supposed to assist Neptune today. Of all people she had to choose me for this, it feels like I'm being targeted by everyone's weird requests. It's not all bad now, if anything its routine at this point.

Letting out a sigh of annoyance, a teacher comes to my side. The art teacher? Oh, I forgot that we were doing this in school. She must've gotten the art teacher to lend us his room. "Just lock up when you're done and don't touch anything. Got it?"

Giving a simple nod is all I can do. A lot of nodding seems to go on around here lately. Again becoming part of my routine of high school. One of the things not being one of them is the long days. And I thought middle school was bad. Damn I was wrong on that.

The art teacher gives off a smile before walking away. Something about him makes me feel like my skin is going to crawl off. Well, this is the first time I've actually met him, before I've just seen him around. Better not judge a book by its cover in this case.

Wait, I shouldn't be debating, I should be in the art room helping Neptune. The way she looked at me when she asked was just awkward. No one gives off that look on the spot, she must've planned it. Among this she planned other things too but we'll get to that in a minute.

The tidal wave of students has thinned a little since talking to the art teacher. It must be one of those days where everyone is out and about I guess. No time to find out what's going on, I've got to get to Neptune. Walking down the hall is quiet and relaxing. A definite change of pace from the past few days.

Upon getting to the room the door is already open. This wouldn't be weird if I could actually see Neptune. Looking in the room there is no sign of her. This isn't how I expected to start off this session but whatever.

It's cool in the art room, a lot better than the warm weather outside. Being summer time it isn't all that unusual for it to be hot. "Neptune, you in here-ugh!" Suddenly something jumps onto my back. This can only be the work of one evil mastermind.

"Giddy up!" I'm not a horse Neptune! It scares me to think about what goes on in her mind. But of course she hid behind the door to ambush me. What is with me and getting jumped on lately? I know for a fact I'm not that likeable to be jumped on all the time.

What I do in response isn't much of a surprise, running around like a maniac seems to be what I'm best at now. So far she enjoys this display of insanity. Looks like there is no other option… I have to mechanical bull her. I know that sounds wrong but get your mind out of the gutter.

"You best be prepared to grab this bull by the horns!" Going from running like an idiot I'm now thrashing around like one. She definitely has a way of influencing people I'll give her that. How she does it is a mystery. Normally I would never do something like this.

"Hello, may I… oh, I hope I'm not… interrupting anything." Nepgear you have a way of coming in at the worst possible time. Considering that her sister is on my back and I'm thrashing here and there, some people might get the wrong idea about this. "You weren't interrupting nothing! Come on in!"

I've said it once and I'll say it again, she has a way of influencing people. Nepgear's facial expression changes from worried to warm. As she walks in Neptune back flips off my back. For a girl that won't eat broccoli she's pretty fit. She's more unusual than I could've ever dreamed. Enough of this sidetracking, Nepgear clearly has something she'd like to ask us.

"Hey Nepgear… what brings you here?"

"Hello Jack! I was just wandering… since I have nowhere else to be… may I stay with you two for the time being?" I'm not sure how to take this. She just wants to hang out after all. Nothing more than that right? Besides, she'll probably just read a book. The things I'm teaching Neptune is Elementary.

"Sure, you don't need to ask though." She blushes at this remark. I wonder why actually, all I said was she doesn't have to ask. High school girls are far more confusing than physics. Whenever she blushes I feel like I've done something wrong. Why is this happening to me?

"O… ok..." She says shyly as she enters the art room. Part of the reason I'm not to phased by this is Neptune needs help… more than mental help. Nepgear as expected seats herself away from the both of us. Towards the back of the room to be precise. I wonder if something is troubling her.

Ok Jack you need to stop getting sidetracked with these stupid things. A lady or whatever you call it is waiting. "Ok Neptune, let's get to work."

"Righty-o… So how do we do this Algebra thingy?" Man she's really clueless on this one. I have a challenging road ahead of me today. I hope her brain doesn't explode from the basics. "Ok, the first thing we're going to do is learn how to find the slope of a line."

"The who of a what now?" Lord bless me to save this poor lost soul.

"Never mind, let's focus on what slope is first."

"Ok, super study intensely mode activate!" I'm tempted to throw her off the roof and make it look like an accident. No wait I can't do that, Nepgear would miss her too much. That might not be the case for the rest of them but I can't just kill her.

"Now the number with an x or any other letter behind it is the slope. Y= 2x+7 is an example of this, and an easy one at that." It can't get any easier than the problem I just gave her. Hopefully she'll be able to remember that little piece of information. If she can't even do that there will be no hope for her salvation.

I hate to admit it, but in the six days we've known each other, I've actually grown attached to her idiocy. Part of me doesn't want her to fail high school and have a bad life. The most surprising thing though is she hadn't gone to Nepgear first. That would've been a better option in my opinion.

"So with that, what is the slope of the line Neptune? Neptune?" Oh hell no, she hasn't pulled this off. I'm going to actually kill her this time. I can't say I blame her on this, it is pretty boring and not having a great attention span doesn't help either. "Zzz… Zzz… Zzz"

Who just falls asleep in the middle of a lesson? Then again she has pulled this off in class before. It'd be unwise to wake her though, I could damage her from waking her up too quickly. Not sure if it's possible for her to get more damaged but we'll see. Guess that leaves me and Nepgear alone with a sleeping Neptune.

Now I finally notice, I have more alone moments with Nepgear than the rest of our friends. It's a curse, or a blessing depending on which way you look at it. None of that thinking will help me now, might as well see what's troubling her. "Hey Nepgear, something up?"

Me talking to her causes her to snap back to reality. If she can go off to another world just like that is rather strange. Normally she'd be more focused. What the hell am I thinking by making observations like this? I've only known her for almost a week. If this is an average week for me from now on I don't think I'll mind.

"Wha! … Oh, it's nothing." This is obviously a lie on her part. Perhaps I should try to get to the actual problem. It's not like she'll get angry with me, if anything she'll over apologize for nothing. What she really needs is someone to give her a little self-confidence.

It's not right to just shrug this off as nothing, but what other choice do I have? I don't want to appear nosey, that would make me seem like an even bigger weirdo. Damn this is a tight spot, but I'm an unpopular guy… I've got nothing to lose. Let's not go that far, I still need to maintain a friendship with her and help without being nosey.

Looks like I did end up shrugging it off after all. Now we sit in awkward silence, just looking away from each other. From the things I've been through so far, I actually worry about her. Is that weird for someone who I haven't known all that long. Either I'm a damn good friend or just a stalker.

No matter which way I look at it, that unpopular excuse won't work this time. I value the friendship I have with her. Now that's not too weird from a friend, or from a guy who hasn't had friends in years.

To my surprise Nepgear is the one who breaks the silence, as well as looks at me. The look in her eyes is something I haven't seen before. It's a look of despair and defeat, that doesn't seem like her.

"Actually… It's not nothing. I'm… upset."

Now I'm scared, she doesn't seem like the kind of person to just spill her guts. If someone just pulls a on eighty on their personality something must be really wrong. As I said before, I've got nothing to lose on this. "What's up Nepgear?"

"I… I miss… home." A feeling of homesickness is her case. That is understandable despite earlier this week. This is the only normal thing that's happened to me so far. I myself have been through this same experience in my life. During the time my mother was taken, I was moved out of town for a little while. Then Maurice got his apartment and I was able to live with him.

That wouldn't have happened if our dad hadn't walked out on us. It's not all that bad now, it turned out alright after all. I still have Maurice and that's all that matters. There's more than that though, I now have friends. And that's something I don't want to let go. "Yeah… I've been there before. I know how it feels and I'm sorry."

"Don't be… my worries… aren't worth fretting over." The same self-worth issues as before. It seems like I've had to comfort her a lot lately. Every time I do it's almost as if she comes back a few days later in worse shape. Now it's officially a losing battle on my end. But I can't just let her say these things about herself.

"Nonsense, I'm your friend so your worries are worth fretting over. You can rely on me."

"Jack…" She gives off another blush with tear filled eyes. From what I can tell I've reached her inner self. There must be something about my voice that causes girls to get all awkward around me. If I'd known that years ago man I would so freaking cool. But then I wouldn't have met Nepgear.

"Jack!" Her body lunges forward and plants her head in my chest. My back is also victim to the assault, her arms are holding me tightly. I'm like that new puppy you get and you never want to let it go. What started off as a normal conversation has turned into a saddening and very weird moment. Maybe people back where she came from weren't so nice to her.

"Thank you…" I can't see it, but she's smiling I just know it. My hypothesis was correct, she'll come back to normal with a few honeyed words. This whole scene would be perfect except for one thing. "Zzz… Zzz… Zzz…"

Neptune's snoring snaps both of us back to reality, what was I thinking? She's a girl I barely know and that happened, I'm so going to hell now. Her head tilts up from my chest, I tilt mine down to see her eyes. Right now I feel nothing but excitement… with a hint of embarrassment. Now I know that I'll jump on the first easy girl I have a chance with.

Her face turns bright red at the realization of where she's at right now. "AH!"

She pushes me to the floor which hurts like a bitch. Going from the warmth of another person to the cold tile floor all in an instant doesn't settle well. I'd hate to admit it, but I actually enjoyed hugging Nepgear for comfort. Well… technically she lunge hugged me first before I hugged back.

Picking my head up off the ground I get a view of how Nepgear looks right now. Her eyes are shut tightly with her mouth wide open. She looks like she wants to scream but can't for some reason. The shade of red is yet another new shade of the crayon box, I think these girls should become artists if they keep up this rainbow of face colors.

It's adorable seeing her like this, but I don't want to say it out loud. Is it wrong for a guy to like a girl? Hell no it isn't, it is however weird if you've only known them for a short while. Even then I'm still uncertain of my feelings towards all of them. Each has their strong point, and weak points.

Her face returns to normal however after a few moments of thinking. When this happens I pick myself up off of the floor. I wouldn't be surprised if things were weird between us for a few hours… or days even.

"Well would you look at the time? Your brother should be here by now." Her voice goes to a perky tone compared to her previous voice. I know what she's trying to do, she's getting us out of here to avoid an awkward situation. Can't say I blame her.

"You're right, it is time." Neptune is still asleep by her bag. Waking her at this point would be a bad idea, so I have a new idea. Picking her up and getting her to look like a piggy back ride, the three, well two of us begin walking.

The whole walk back is spent in silence, and not the good kind. Both of us also don't look at each other, this isn't much of a surprise either. The outside of the school is bright, and Maurice is waiting for us. Going up to his car and opening up the back door I lay Neptune down on the seat. Nepgear sits in the back seat by her. Shotgun is mine for the taking.

As he starts to drive off back to the complex I'm left thinking. 'These feelings are getting annoying, but Nepgear… I think I might actually be interested in her.'


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The morning sunlight caresses my face beckoning me to get out of bed. It's only Wednesday and I'm already this tired? High school has really taken its toll on me this year. It's only week two and I'm already tuckered out from all of it. There are some things that accelerate it more though.

Eight things to be exact, one of them being more trouble than the other seven combine. Neptune has really taken a lot out of me. All that energy she uses to get on all of our nerves does do its part on her as well. That explains why she fell asleep yesterday from a simple problem.

After getting back to the complex Neptune was carried off to her apartment by Nepgear. What happened from that point I don't know. Nepgear has been acting a little strange lately though, more than usual. She claimed she was upset about missing her home. Most peculiar indeed.

'BUZZ!' My phone goes off.

A message was sent to me and a few others. The person sent this was Noire of all people. What could she possibly want with us? Well, I said I wasn't the only one who received it. Nepgear and Blanc also got it. Uni must've been told by Noire herself.

"Would any of you be interested in practicing for Friday's football game at my house tomorrow? Not like I care if you accept or anything, just trying to offer my great support. I only do everything after all."

After the way she worded that I'm tempted to not go to it. But I do need the practice, not to mention I've never actually been in a instrument practice group before. The lack of friends should tell you why. Thursday for me is free so what the hell, I'll do it.

"Count me in Noire, I'll need your address though." My reply stated as such. Shortly after the other two recipients gave their replies.

"I'm coming." Blanc offers that much at least. It's more than I could have expected her to say.

"I'll be there for sure!" Nepgear is back to an energetic positive attitude today. Hopefully things aren't going to be weird between us. We only hugged for a little bit, it shouldn't be that much of a deal right? Right?

I guess my Thursday is filled now, getting her address didn't take too long. Now the only thing I'm not sure of is if Maurice will give me ride. Actually, judging from this address she doesn't live too far away from me. All it would be is a short walk and I'm there. That answers that question.

"Oh well… time to get up I guess." The clock strikes six forty five as I say that. Not too much time left until I have to leave, but enough time to grab a quick shower. My feet touch the cool carpet floor, a relaxing feeling it is. "This is going to be a long day I can already tell.

Finally its noon, lunch time and today is one of the school days I'll actually eat the lunch. For today is School Taco day. Something has always puzzled me on why these tacos are so good. I guess that's one of life's greatest mysteries that will never be solved.

When I get to our normal circle table, everyone else is already there before me. From what I can tell they're all just conversing amongst themselves. At least I know if I'm not here they won't get lonely. I might if one of them wasn't here, technically speaking, the chaos they cause is all part of the routine I have set.

"This so going to be the coolest game to come out on DS ever!" Ram says energetic as ever.

"Pfft, Ds can't compare to the PSP. Unlike Nintendo consoles, Sony ones never break down." Uni chimes in as a response. On this argument I'll be siding with the PSP. No offense to Ram or anything, Sony has just given better machines over the years. But however people do have their opinions.

It's clear to me already that some of them enjoy handheld consoles more than regular sized ones. The younger sisters are the regular consoles handheld version. That's what it looks like to me at least. And the older sisters minus Vert are much like the handheld consoles versions.

"Those handhelds are too small for my liking. Consoles should be large, size rules the world after all."

Upon uttering that, Vert gives off a devilish smile while looking at me. I can't get one normal day around these girls can I? At least I get to deal with the rational ones later this afternoon, at Noire's house none the less. I'm sure everything will be just fine.

"And that's why the Sega should still be considered a console." I had gotten so lost in my own thoughts that I completely forgot that they were arguing about consoles. As I said before, I'm a Sony man myself.

"Sega is outdated, the PS3 is the only console that is perfect in every way. The network it has is unhackable. The same can't be said for Xbox live." Noire makes a good point, Xbox live has screwed a lot of people over in the past. Playstation Network is free anyway, clearly the better choice in this fight.

"Well… more people play on Xbox than on Playstation, and downloading doesn't take forever on it." Ok so Vert is an Xbox person, figures. Xbox is always going on about how they're the biggest thing out there. Vert is much the same but only boasting one part of herself.

Nepgear and Rom don't say anything in this conversation. Understandable, both girls are on the shy side when it comes to these things. Sometimes I wonder if Rom just does whatever Ram wants because she doesn't see her self worth. That could be it, or it couldn't be. Either way this thinking is getting in the way of a not to bad school taco.

However my luck goes from bad to worse as an all too familiar and hated face comes along. Andrew has made a habit of coming around when he's not wanted, which is every second of the day. What could that good for nothing rat want this time?

"Vert girl, why you hanging with these losers? You should for come over with me." I already know what's going on in that perverted head of his and I don't like it one bit. It's understandable to like Vert, she's really nice. But he only wants one thing out of this deal. "I'm flattered, but I must decline. You're simply not my type."

His face goes from douche bag who thinks he's cool to confused. No matter how nice he may act he will always just have one thing at the top of his mind… sex. Every teenage boy wants it, some more than others. I for one am not too keen on the idea at my age. "Why?! I'm cooler than all people in this school!"

"The way you've treated my friends." Her face goes from friendly smiling to a pissed off frown. "Has not been very nice."

"You mean pimple nipple and fag over here?" Andrew, you just made the number one mistake in the world… never insult Blanc's chest. He must have a death wish on himself, this time I think Blanc will kill him. "Who the hell do you think you are insulting my breasts like that?!"

The storm has come at last. I'm finally going to see that skulk of a person get what he deserves. Blanc's yelling doesn't attract the teachers attention though, all of them just sit at their table enjoying a taco. I hope they don't witness what's about to happen next. Blanc walks up to Andrew, being the idiot he is he doesn't even flinch.

"Go to hell asshole!"

Her fist at an alarming speed goes into his groin before he has a chance to react and defend. My legs immediately cross at the sight. Every man who would've seen that would cringe in the same way. "AHHHHHH!"

Andrew falls to the floor screaming in pain. Luckily none of the teachers saw anything. Even if they did they'd probably let Blanc off the hook. Andrew is hated by most of everyone. Not sure why he thinks he's cool just because he has a few thug friends. I feel nothing but pity for him, being hit in the testicles as well as hitting a tile floor very hard. Like Maurice always says, "Bitch had it coming."

Kneeling down to his fallen brittle body I whisper something in his ear he won't soon forget. "These girls are more than just boobs and a nice butt, they're fantastic. Also, I'm not a European cigarette."

With that last remark he gets up and limps back to his table. The rest of the lunch is spent with Blanc calming down. We sit in silence, with a now cold school taco.

Upon school ending, Maurice was out front as usual to pick me up. Now being in routine that Neptune and Nepgear ride with us back home, they join as well. Nepgear and I are going to Noire's house and I made sure Maurice knew that. But that'll leave one thing unchecked. Maurice and Neptune will be in a car alone.

He hasn't really gotten to know her the way I have, part of me is scared that he'll kill her. If that happens though maybe things will be better, but I can't be sure. She has provided me with some entertainment in the time I've known her. Easing my boredom is probably something she does unconsciously as a gift to me.

Noire's house is in sight of us now. The exterior doesn't look all that bad from my perspective. It's a moderately decent sized house with white walls on the outside. The porch of the house is larger than most around here, actually having columns hold it up. Black is the color of her roof, it looks like new shingles have just been placed.

"Well, here you are now get out of my car." Maurice says to me and Nepgear in a cheerful manner. He doesn't actually hate me or her, he just has that playful brother sort of thinking. As well as he wants me to spend more time with them to get a social life.

Doing as he says Nepgear gets out obediently and closes the door. She's the perfect wife material from what I have seen. Neptune even told me yesterday that she cooks extremely well. "Bye Nep Jr., have fun. Also, annoy Noire for me ok?"

Nepgear nods at her sisters' odd question. She's not going to do it, her personality doesn't dictate that she will. I do the same as in getting out of the car. As soon as my door closed, Maurice drove off wildly. Yep, that was to be expected of him. Now down to business, we must get inside to practice for a football game!

My hand strikes the door to knock on it signifying that we are here. Noire driving herself home can get here faster than we can. (In some states, it's legal for fourteen year olds to drive.) She opens up the door with her usual neutral look on her face.

"Oh, you came, well good for you. Don't just stand there, come in." Now this is the Noire I know and love. Well not love love, but you get the point. Not wanting her to get impatient both of us step into her house.

I'm not even going to bother describing it other than the fact it is freaking awesome! There's so much class in here. Not to mention how regal the place looks. Her living room has a black sofa in it with a cherry coffee table in front of it. Upon the coffee table is a few doilies with tea cups sitting on them.

On top of the mantle of her fireplace is a 47 inch flat screen tv, not bad if I might add. Enough of the description, there is much left to be done here. Uni walks down the staircase to the side of the living room. Not in her usual black dress anymore, instead wearing some yoga pants with a plain old t shirt.

I did not take her as one to dress like that in any circumstance. Then again it is her house, she can dress anyway she wants to. Something seems off though, their parents aren't here. I suppose they could have work or something, maybe it's just me being nosey again. "Hey Jack, hello everyone." Uni calls out to us all. Damn my curiosity, I've got to ask.

"Hey Noire, Uni, where are your parents exactly?" This questions results in both of them getting worried looks at the same time. Perhaps I was not supposed to ask that after all. At least Noire gives me a response to the question. "They are… um… working long hours! That's it."

I guess working hard runs in the family. Part of me doesn't believe a word she says though. Oh well, it was never my business to begin with. I really need to stop doing that. Everyone is set up some place in the living room now, that means I should get set as well.

Uni, Nepgear, Blanc, Noire and I are finally set up to begin practicing for tomorrow's football game. Noire was the one who called this meeting of band geeks to order, I assume she'll be the one leading practice. Oh wait, I forgot she's never played any of the music we have here before. "Um Jack, I was hoping you could teach us this. You don't have to, I could do it on my own. I just can't have the spotlight all the time."

"All right, I guess I can give it a whirl. Let's start with the fight song then."

Putting on smile, all of them ready their instruments and prepare to play. Honestly… I don't know how to fully conduct. All I know is from watching the band director do it for years. It looks so easy but at the same time complex. Oh well… what have I got to lose anyway?

"Ok let's go… da da da da da da da da." So far everyone is following surprisingly well. You almost would think this isn't their first time palying the fight song. Maybe, just maybe we'll get done with practice early.

Noire seems to be adapting well to the new music, she must've been some big shot musician back at her old school. Nepgear is what you would expect, messing up here and there but getting back quickly and better than ever. Blanc being the percussionist of the group just has to keep time so we don't get lost. And Uni is trying her best to be as good as Noire at this.

This is the only song they will really have to know for the first game. It's not even supposed to be that good when we play it for the first time in forever. For once in my pathetic existence, the band might have a good game song.

The practice doesn't take that long, it seems like only a little bit ago we were starting up. Now that I look at the clock, an hour has passed. Time sure flies when you teach some friends a song. Now I know how the band director feels in class. And thank the holy spirit Neptune isn't in band.

"Ok guys, that sounds pretty good, nice job."

"Yay!" Nepgear and Uni shout. Noire and Blanc just give off a shrug then a smile. Satisfactory is the word that comes to mind when I see this. I'm proud of them all for a lot of accomplishment in a short period of time.

"Well, that should be enough for now. I think it's time you all get home." Noire says to us all.

No words are spoken at this remark, instead Nepgear and Blanc leave the house before I do. Nepgear looks back at me to make sure I'm coming. Having a big instrument takes a little time to put up. "Hey Jack… can I speak with you?"

"Sure Noire, what's up?"

Noire gives a stare to Uni, this causes her to immediately go upstairs to leave the two of us alone in her living room. Again I get an awkward feeling from being around one of my new friends. It's to the point where I might start to go insane from these encounters. Oh wait, I'm already crazy beyond repair.

"I just… wanted to say… thank you."

Now this is a shocking turn of events. Noire has never actually said thanks to me in the time I've known her. This must be of great importance if she's keeping me just to say that. "For what exactly?"

"Remember… when you gave me advice… about a boy?" How could I forget that?

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well… I'm going to see… if he likes me tomorrow at the football game. And I just wanted to thank you. You helped me gain the courage to do this…" Her face returns to a normal looking Noire face. "But don't get me wrong, I'm not praising you or anything."

"Never would've dreamed of you to praise me. Let's just have a handshake and get this over with." I hold out my right hand and give off a smile. Noire's cheeks turn red as I do this. Eventually, she reaches her hand out and we shake. Her skin feels so soft it's unbelievable. Now I'm talking like a pervert, I'm talking like an Andrew more like.

"Well, I guess I'll take my leave."

"Ok, bye then." Noire releases her grip on my hand and I make it for the door. Walking outside, I realize my place isn't too far from Noire's house. So is Blanc's, when I walked her home it wasn't that far either. Neptune and Nepgear are my neighbors even, this is getting to be pretty sweet.

"Sigh," I really should get home. My feet begin to move up the street. Another weird high school day complete. Next time in, the first home football game.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Finally, the time for the Football game is at hand. Well more like in a couple hours. In the past I stay after school and wait for the band call time of five thirty. Nothing is ever more relaxing than this time I have to myself. Until a few other people got the same idea.

"Wow Jack, you spent all those years just sitting here waiting for the game to start? You sound lonelier than Noire." That's harsh even by my standards. As I've told everyone before I hate it when people joke about that sort of stuff to other people. Noire has plenty of friends I'm sure of it.

"What?! I've told you before Neptune I do have friends."

"Is Uni the friend you were talking about?" I'm not sure that even counts as a friend. Older siblings aren't meant to be friends, they're meant to shape the younger sibling into shape for life. Noire seems to be doing that job very well with Uni. I don't believe she picked up the tomboy thing from Noire though.

In case you were wondering, Uni walked up to the trio of people that are us. Come to think of it, why is Neptune here? She's not in the band and she doesn't do anything to help as far as I know. Perhaps she's just staying with Nepgear so she doesn't get bored. I hate to admit it, but Neptune actually cares deeply for her little sister.

"No… Uni isn't the friend I was talking about. He's someone completely different." Her voce goes from disciplining to shy. It must be a rare treat to see Noire like this. But it could also be the calm before the storm for all I know. As for that friend, it must be the one she's going for tonight.

"Besides, Jack is a friend of mine."

"Silly Noire, Jack can't be your friend. You don't know him like I do." What?

I'm not sure how to take that. Sure we're neighbors but do we really know each other all that well? Nepgear knows the most about me, she must be passing it on to Neptune. Uni and I aren't that close now that I think about it.

"I'm wouldn't be good enough to be Noire's friend even if I weren't her sister." Uni finally speaks up to us all. I really don't like how Neptune can make a bad joke and this happens. It makes me sick to my stomach whenever I hear something like that.

The years I spent without these girls were the same. All day everyday people whispered thinking I couldn't hear them hurtful things. Saying I had no friends, which was true. That was the past and this is the present. I like how it is now, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

"Hello, am I interrupting anything?" A wild Blanc appears.

"No, you're just about to witness Neptune and Uni verbally assault each other."

"Oh, I could join in if you want." That would be the worst possible thing. Once Blanc gets into it, she'll yell her heart out. I've seen what she's done to Andrew, and he keeps coming back for more.

"No! I'm sure they will handle it themselves. Instead why don't we have a relaxing game of Magic?" That's all I can think of for now. It's better than listening to her traumatize everyone within a ten kilometer radius. "Sure, why not?"

She begins to walk to the band room. Neptune takes notice of this and leaves Uni and Noire in the dust, I guess she wants to play. Does she even have a deck of her own? Noire and Uni look confused until they see Neptune pull a deck box out of one of the hoodie pockets. Noire is response pulls out her deck, probably not going to let Neptune get away from her earlier remarks.

Uni stands saddened as her sister walks away, can't say I blame her. She tries so hard to get Noire to notice her it isn't funny. All she wants to do right now is play Magic with her big sister is what I guess. Oh wait, I forgot I built her a deck not too long ago. I just forgot to give it to her.

"Uni, remember how I said I'd build you a deck when we first met? Well here it is." Out of my messenger bag I pull out a brand new deck box containing her deck. The colors of it are red and green. Burn is the official term for its style of play. The red side is to deal direct damage, the green is for preventing damage being dealt to her. Pretty nice if I say so myself, I even went into my special collection for some of the cards she has.

"I… I thought you were joking. No one ever gives me gifts, especially Noire."

"I wouldn't joke that to a friend. And I'm sure Noire cares deeply about you."

"No, she doesn't even notice me half the time. Apparently she won't congratulate me unless I do better than her… and that's impossible." Wow, she sounds more downhearted about this than I do most days. What she needs is a hug right now. But I wonder if that would be weird at this point. I've only known her for a little over a week now, so it might be alright.

"Uni, older siblings are like that, they act like they don't notice you when deep inside all they want is you to be the best you. Noire just wants you to get strong and not have to deal with a lot of life problems."

I'm not sure what else I can offer her. Giving her that deck seemed like the perfect thing to cheer her up, instead I think I made it worse. I hate it when girls cry, it makes me want to cry my eyes out too.

"That… makes sense. Thanks Jack, I knew you were a true friend. Sorry I started a pity party though."

"It's alright, happy to help. Cheer up, let's join the others."

Uni's frown turns into an inspired smile at that. She knows how to play and if not I'll teach her. Now if we can get Nepgear to join in on the game we'll have six people in tow. I've never had a three on three or six way free for all before. Enough talk, it's time to duel!

* * *

"Alright! I bestow Chromanticore to my Gluttonous Cyclops!" As expected, Neptune's deck is loaded with things that are either mish mashed creatures. All colors mind you, so a wubrg deck. This will be… interesting to deal with.

The Cyclops she has played is monstrous and her only creature on her field. Other than that she has a shit ton of mana and a fiery spirit. I never thought she'd take anything seriously until now. The universe always proves me wrong on these matters.

Surprisingly, Neptune doesn't attack instead choosing a more defensive approach. This leaves her turn over and Noire's to begin. She casts knight exemplar, this makes all of her knights indestructible. Now Noire is in a good position to take us all out. She does attack as expected, but attacks Blanc.

Blanc's creatures are all tapped, leaving her wide open. Blanc's life goes to negative thirteen from the strike. This leaves five players left in our game. After Noire, it's Uni's turn to play.

Uni draws, a smile fills her face. Only one card in that deck could give off a smile like that. She taps all of her mana and lays down a card. "Read it and weep people!" The card she just played is worldfire. Now all of our creatures are gone and everyone is at one life.

My turn now and I have a plan for these girls. Drawing a new card, this one has haste. Tapping three mana, I play minotaur skull cleaver. I can take anyone I want out of the game now. So who's it going to be? I've got it!

"Sorry Neptune, you prove to be a threat to all of us."

"NO! My precious life!" Melodramatic much Neptune?

Four players left in this battlefield known as a Magic game. My turn is over now, Nepgear has the spotlight. After drawing, she plays a wall of frost. Not a bad card, great for defending. But not good enough for what I have planned.

Noire has a new turn afoot, but can't do anything since she drew a land and has no cards in hand. She is forced to pass the turn to her little sister Uni. Uni draws her card for the turn, another deviant glee fills her face. Tapping the most mana I've seen all game, the new card will ensure her victory.

"Fireball!"

All of us except her are dealt three damage apiece. Nothing any of us have will save us now. Uni… has beaten three opponents at once. I know it's a free for all, anything could happen. But that's impressive none the less. "Yeah! I won! Well Noire, did I do good?" Again with the whole my sister has to approve of it thing.

"I guess you did alright. You got lucky is all."

If Maurice ever said that to me I'd be furious. Uni on the other hand doesn't care. She likes the fact that her sister acknowledged her for once. So that deck did make things a little better for her. Granted I'm still a little pissed that I lost to her, I'm happy for her none the less.

"Looks like that game passed a lot of time, it's five thirty."

Looking at the clock Nepgear is right. Call time for the game practice. Guess that means I should get the Tenor Sax out. Practice begins shortly, and the game isn't too far away.

* * *

The band bus arrives at the football field with all the pep band members in tow. Walking off with my case and my stand takes some getting used to. Sure I've done it in the past but that was a summer ago. Now I have to do it all over again.

At least we are able to make it to the band section of the stands. There are a few little kids hanging around there that don't know the ropes but they go away one the director talks to them. Brings back old memories seeing this.

Setting down my case and stand, the director wants to talk to us. "Be back with ten minutes left on the clock." That's right, we got here extra early today. Well, time to go grab some dinner.

The band has a fish fry here every once in a while. They serve great food and it helps benefit the band. Guess I'm eating there tonight.

Noire walks up behind me and tugs on my shoulder a bit. When I turn around to see her face she looks conflicted about asking me a question. "Hey Jack… I sort of… forgot my wallet at home. Would it be alright if I bummed some food off of you?" thank goodness it isn't anything weird like before.

The food they serve is in ungodly high portions anyway, I can share half a clam strip basket with her. "Ok, don't be so shy about it next time though. I don't care if someone gets some food off of me."

"O… ok."

Walking up to the table they have set out a nice lady greets me. "Hello hun, what would you like?" Clam strips are what I'm going after, but what if Noire doesn't like clam? I'll have to ask her if that's alright.

"Noire, do you mind clam strips?"

"No, I for one enjoy them. If it wouldn't be any trouble, could I get a Dr. Pepper to drink?"

Damn girls are expensive, oh well. Can't have her starve now can we? There is still a lot of time before we have to be back so that means we can eat slowly if we want. There aren't any open benches, but I know a good place.

Behind the concession stand is a spot I am prone to going to. Noire follows me thinking I actually know what to do. That is partly true, the other part is I've never eaten with another person back here.

"This isn't what I would call good scenery for eating, but it's alright."

She sits right next to me with the clam strip basket in between us. Her hand is the first to attack the glorious seafood. As soon as it enters her mouth she smiles and closes her eyes. She must really like it. This time her hand goes down grabbing not one piece, but three.

And I thought Neptune was a glutton. I don't care either way, it warms my heart to see someone happy from my doing. I manage to get a clam strip or two and a couple fries while she savors the taste. Constantly assaulting the basket and gulping it down with a sip of the Dr. of flavor.

Before we knew it the basket was empty. Usually it takes me a while to eat the whole thing. This time I had a Noire to help me with the consumption. She did most of the eating however. I barely got any clam, or fries for that matter. I won't complain, I feel full from watching her face smile. Ok that just sounds weird.

"Ah, I am full. Oh… sorry I ate most of it." The word(s) of the day is over apologize.

People have been apologizing to me for the past few hours, it's starting to get a little weird. She seems satisfied with dinner so I really can't complain. "It's fine, I wasn't that hungry anyways."

"Hey Jack"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again… for all your help that is. That boy… is sure to like me now."

I've said it twice I'll make it thrice. She doesn't seem like the kind of girl to fall head over heels for a guy. I thought she would resent the idea of a relationship with anyone that wasn't practical. So there is regular girl emotions in there. "Now? He probably liked you before."

"Well… you see… the guy is…"

"Hey!" Noire is cut off by the biggest idiot in the whole wide world. Andrew comes out of the shadows to reveal his most hated face. Did I say I hate him already? All he ever does is cause trouble for anyone who doesn't view him as cool… which is everyone.

"I've still got to give you payback for what you did to me. And that titless bitch isn't here to stop me!" He's finally lost it I thought. In what world does he think he can beat me up? Lord have mercy on his soul, and don't let me kill him finally.

He tries to look menacing but all he proves is that he's a bigger idiot than I thought. I can't stand it anymore, someone has to stand up to him other than Blanc. He'll be taught a lesson he won't soon forget.

Picking myself up off the concrete, I tilt my head to the right. So he's not as dumb as I thought. He picks up the signal and moves over to the grass area next to the concrete. I walk over there myself and pop my knuckles.

He knows what's coming next and prepares himself as well. His fists raise up into a fighting stance, or what he calls it. The left ribs of him are completely open, his head is uncovered, and he doesn't have an arm close to the groin for protection.

I'm not going to punch him there anyways. I see it as a dirty tactic and not to be used in combat. But if it comes down to it, I may have to. "Jack…" Noire calls out to me faintly.

"Don't interfere Noire, someone's got to teach this asshole a lesson."

Looking into his eyes for the last time, I get into a real fighting stance. Now I will show him social recluses are a force to be reckoned with.

**A/N: Sorry if it is moving kind of fast in this chapter. I'm kind of going though something and I needed to write to clear my mind. So if you have any complaints leave it in the review section. Once I get back to normal I may rewrite the chapter. Thanks and happy reading fans.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Here I stand facing the douche bag king, ready to fight him. Personally I don't want to do this but I'm rather pissed off right now. He's made fun of Blanc on numerous occasions, tried to hit on Vert while calling me a fag, and has overall been a dick to Noire for coming up to us while we were talking.

There is nothing I want to do more than kick his smug idiotic ass. But I can't go out and use all my anger and frustration on him. Noire may not like how I can get on rare occurrences.

"Eat this!" Andrew takes a running charge at me. Such a predictable move, it makes me laugh that he thinks that will work. With a fist raised back to an incorrect amount, his entire body is left wide open.

All it takes to avoid this move is a simple side step. He's too dumb to react and charges none the less. As soon as he passes me, I palm strike his gut.

"*Thud* Ugh!"

The force of this causes him to be pushed back far enough that I can regain a proper fighting stance. "Had enough yet?" I ask rhetorically.

"Die asshole!" I think Blanc is rubbing off on him from all the beatings that he has taken. Being close to each other now gives me a slight panic. At a distance an enemy can be seen and also predictable. However, in close quarters combat, anything can happen to either side of the fight.

"*Swoosh, Swoosh, Swoosh*"

He throws a few punches my way. Nothing I can't handle though, for blocking all three is easy as getting him angry. "Jack…" I hear Noire say to herself lightly from the sidelines. This causes me to lose my composure for a split second but that's enough for me to let my guard down.

"*Thud!* Agh…"

That kind of hurt, it's not too bad though. I can take more of a punishment than that though. Now that he's closer to me than before, it is a perfect time for a counterstrike. He hasn't stopped hitting my gut mind you, I said before I am able to take a punishment.

Once he raises his fist back, my own goes back as well. As soon as he punches, I side step enough to were he misses me completely. Confused is the only world I will use for him right now. With the fist I have raised back, it goes forward like a human missile.

"*Crack!*" I think his nose broke again or even more than it was from the punch I landed on his face.

Naturally he falls back from the force but I won't let him off that easy. Grabbing the hand of his falling body I pull him back up close and hit him again. "*Crack* *Thud, Thud, Thud*" Various sounds can be heard from my constant assault on his face.

A little bit of blood is seeping from his nose and comes into contact with my hand. I was hoping to not dirty myself with the blood of the ignorant but whatever. There is nothing more to do show him. My grip of his hand subsides and he falls to the ground once more.

"Now have you had enough? You're only making yourself look like even more of an ass by fighting."

"Not… until *Cough*… I make *Cough Cough Cough*… you bleed!"

So much energy coming from a man who can barely stand on his own two feet. I'm about ten seconds from just walking away from this ass wipe. He's already been broken, why continue to fight if you know you've already won?

Although the universe has a way with proving me wrong lately. He regains what little composure he has left and is prepared to fight. This time around I'm not going to block, I'll just going to block and see what happens.

Again he charges at me thinking I won't do anything. All I do is side step once more and trip him when he passes. Honestly it's like he's trying to get himself killed at my hand. "*Thud!*

That was an unusually loud thud he just made when he made contact with the hard ground. Once more he stands back up and regains his balance. I knew Andrew was an idiot but I never knew he was insane to this degree. At this rate I'm going to actually kill a man, and the town will throw me a parade in my honor.

It's like no matter how many times I knock him down he gets up thinking he still has a chance. "Just give up already Andrew. I've won this scuffle of ours. I don't want to hurt you anymore but if you leave me no choice then I will."

"Not until *Cough!*… you're dead!" He's got guts I'll give him that.

This time though when he stands up he's finally starting to wobble a bit. He's to his breaking point I know this now. One more trip and he's going to be down for the count. His fist rose up once more in an attempt to strike me.

The same routine will take place… I'll side step him in the same manner as before, he'll trip and we'll be done here. "What the?!" Some people came out of nowhere and are holding me in place.

Damn, he must've set this whole thing up. There are four people in total that I'm fighting now. I can't move though, the three people holding me are too strong for me to break free. I knew he was a rat, but to stoop this low? Not even pity is felt for him. There is only one thing that can happen now… I'm going to get my ass handed to me, by a rat none the less.

"Ha ha, how's it feel *Cough* to be trapped?"

"Better than staring at your face." If I'm going to go down I'm going to have fun with it. My fate is sealed, this is where I die. Knowing Andrew and the idiots he hangs out with their going to kill me with a smile on their faces.

"You're gonna regret that!"

"*Thud! Thud! Thud!*" His fist repeatedly hits my face with about half as much force as he could usually muster.

"Agh! Is that the best you can do?"

"Go to hell!"

"*Thud thud thud *" Another wave of punches rains down on me. Not just hitting my face anymore, now targeting my torso. Still only a fraction of his real strength. I feel defeated, I can't move and I'm forced to watch myself get the crap kicked out of me.

"Ahh!"

It's starting to actually hurt now. Noire hopefully won't interfere like I asked her to. Andrew is the kind of guy who will hit anyone, even girls without a second thought. In my current state, I can only glance to where Noire is.

Her eyes are more wide than I've ever seen them become. Both hands of hers are placed over her mouth at the disbelief of what's happening. In her eyes, I'm weak… no I'm just plain pathetic. Noire and the others won't want to hang out with a loser like me after this.

"*Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud!*" Coming down on me now is a barrage of hits. Pain is the only thing that's keeping me from totally yelling out to the world how weak I am. I claim to be more intelligent than most of my age. And yet I forgot the possibility that he would pull something like this.

"AHHH!" Now the amount of pain I'm in is finally showing. Tears are rolling down my face in response. It's official, I'm pathetic if I am losing to the roach.

"*Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud.*

"Stop… Stop it!" Noire is yelling from the side of the makeshift arena. To make matters worse, the other seven are now watching me get my ass handed to me. Even Blanc just sits there petrified at the scene. If she won't stand up to it, I'm as good as dead.

This is where it all ends… where I die. I lived a good life so far, made some new friends along the way. I'm sorry… to Nepgear… to Uni… Noire and Blanc. Rom and Ram forgive me. Even Neptune… don't pity me in death.

Yet… something compels me to fight back. Like there is another version of me within myself. This is… the will to live. Yes! I don't want to die. For once in my life I don't want to finally die.

When his fist comes at me again, I make my move. My head goes up and my mouth goes open as wide as it can. The top of his fist is in my mouth and I bite down as hard as I can. Sure it hurt when I caught it but he'll be in even more pain than I'll ever be in.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

My teeth continue to dig into his skin, all while the three guys holding me are trying to break me off of Andrew. But the more they pull, the more pain goes through Andrew's body.

Finally, my bite gets strong enough to where his skin breaks. I can feel his blood pouring out of the new wound. Not feel though… I can taste it. The initial response to this is screaming followed by begging me to let him go.

The idiotic thresh of Andrew causes his goons to break their grip on me slightly. This is more than a good opportunity to make my escape. My right arm breaks free of one of their grips. It goes out as far as I can stretch it, then goes back as fast as I can make it.

"*Crack/Thud!*

My elbow makes contact with his jaw, with enough force to crack his mandible. He can't say anything in response since enough nerves were hit to knock him out cold. One bastard down, three even bigger assholes to go.

At this point all parties are realizing what's going on but can't react fast enough to stop my blood rush. The arm I just used is cocked back naturally from my last strike. This time it does a classic punch on the guy to my left.

"Son of a bitch!"

The angle I hit him at wasn't enough to get him to let go but gets him to falter enough to break my left arm free. "Christ!" The dunce to my left yells after he realizes what's about to happen.

Much like the first guy, my left arm cocks back and I elbow him. Not in the jaw this time though. Instead the forehead, either way he's still knocked out from the blow. Damn I'm on a role. I sure hope Noire doesn't freak out at this.

Andrew is still flailing around from the wound I gave him and two of the three stooges are down for the count. One is left behind me now holding my torso. I don't even need to do anything to this one.

He's smart enough to let me go and run away. Good lord I'm becoming a person I knew a long time ago. He had a dark past that he never liked to talk about. What was his name again? Began with a J or something.

All that's left is Andrew and he's in immense pain from the broken skin. He won't fight anymore I'm sure of it. Stopping in his tracks, he gives me a dirty look. I know it all too well, he's going to try to actually kill me.

"I won't lose to a fag!"

He pulls out a switchblade from his pocket and makes the blade come out. Holy shit he's going to attempt to kill me here and now. Has he lost too much blood? Surely he doesn't think that that'll work on me. I am more than capable of dodging or disarming his knife.

Screw it, I'm going to make him suffer for everything he's done to me.

Now the fool makes his move. He's obviously on the verge of passing out since he wobbles a lot when he runs. Finally he gets near me, that's his first mistake. Next mistake on Andrew's part is swinging his knife at me. "Ie ashhole!"

I grab his wrist and stop his hand from going any further. In his weakened state, he just lets go of his weapon. Now the knife is in my hand, the look on his face is priceless. "Wait man! You can't do this to me! I'm sorry… I'm sorry!"

So once the tables turn he's sorry for what he's done? Pathetic, truly pathetic in my book. I'm going to enjoy killing him. Even if a judge doesn't see it as self defense I still have eight witnesses to testify that I was indeed defending myself.

Wait… did I just say I was going to kill him? That can't be right… Rom and Ram are here, what would young girls do if they see me kill a man? Everyone is here, I can't kill him even if we all want to.

"*Thud*"

The knife drops to the ground from my hand. Andrew looks like he's just seen a ghost, his face is so terrified. Everyone except Blanc lets out a sigh of relief. Blanc's case being a grunt of disappointment. It's so like her to want to see a man die.

"Go… before I change my mind."

That's all I will say to Andrew, and that's all it takes. He starts scurrying away like the rat he is. Hopefully this will be a lesson he won't soon forget.

"Jack!" all of them cheer as I stand lone. Well not lone anymore since I have eight people around me now. "Whoa, careful… I may be alive but I still need space."

All of them step back a little bit before returning to there cheering. I don't know why they cheer, I almost killed a man. It could be just because I'm ok, that was quite a beating I took back there. Not as bad as the three I took out. At least one was smart enough not to mess with me.

"I'm… glad you're alright." Rom says to me in a soft tone.

It's impossible to make out what the rest of them say after that. So much chatter from seven people it's crazy. Whatever, I'm alive to see my friends again, that's all that matters to me now.

"Enough of this, that fight really worked up an appetite. I'm going for another Clam strip basket."

"Wait, what about those two?" Nepgear points to the two guys I knocked out earlier.

"Leave them, they smelled of booze anyway when they were up close."

"Whatever, I for one would've taken them hostage and made a whole lot of money. Then bought two tons of pudding!" Yes you would Neptune, yes you would.

We all start walking back to the fish fry stand to get some more food. It's worth the wait this time, I deserve this… sort of. Before too long it's time to get back to the stands to play the fight song. Sure I may have a headache but it subsided by the magic of fried clams.

It's not over yet I can already tell. Even after tonight's happenings Andrew is going to keep annoying the piss out of me. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. And I'll do it in locked arms with my eight greater than clam strips friends.

**A/N: This is the first time I've ever attempted to write a fight scene. If any of you would like to Pm me on suggestions be my guest. See you in the next update.**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Sigh… these classes get more boring by the day. Ever since I beat the living hell out of Andrew on Friday it's been quiet at school. Well, about as quiet as you could expect it to be, Neptune is still here after all. The best part about it though is Andrew has been absent this whole time.

Granted it's only Tuesday and the week is still young. Rumors, no truths have been going around that I beat up four guys all on my own. Three people to be exact but hey I'll take some extra street cred any day of the week.

Can't say I blame him for not showing, scared him three quarters of the way to death from our fight. As well as the wound on his hand, that'll take a while to fully heal. I sort of feel bad for what I did to him; guess I need to learn some restraint. Then again… killing him doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Knowing him he'll come after me even though I kicked his ass once already I can do it again. "I still can't believe you almost killed him." Noire whispers to me since we sit near each other in third hour.

"I can, and I'd do it again if I ever got the chance." That came out in a sarcastic tone that only Maurice could do. So he rubbed off on me after all? It's saddening really on both sides of this. Andrew for getting the crap beat out of him and me for getting provoked into that fight.

Who cares about Friday though? I'm just glad I didn't get killed by the douche bag king. Don't get me wrong I'm not afraid to die, I'm just not ready. For the sake of everyone who would miss me is why I chose to fight.

"*Sigh* you're unbelievable you know that?" And I criticized Neptune of being to harsh on people.

"This is how you treat me after I put on a show for you?"

Her face flusters red in frustration from my comment. It wasn't so much a show as it was me defending myself. Now instead of Maurice Neptune is rubbing off on me. All of them have in way when you look at it. Still… it bothers me even now from seeing the scared looks of a few of them. Am I a monster?

That can't be the case; a monster would've gone and finished him off. Blanc might of gone and done the deed, but hey it's Blanc we're talking about. She'd kill me for the fun of it with a huge smile plastered across her face while the cherry blossoms fall in the background. Fear… the only emotion I have for Blanc is fear. She's pretty, and scary.

"You didn't have to show off like that. Even if the situation was critical you should've known he would pull something like that."

She's right about that much I'll give her credit for that. Scum like Andrew can't fight their own battles so they have to get goons to do it for them. Enough of this damned Andrew talk, just hearing his name almost makes me throw up. Besides, I have more fun adventure awaiting me today I'm sure of it.

"Hey Noire, before all that madness went down you were about that guy you like. Who is he exactly?"

"I almost forgot about that. Well… his name is…" She's cut off by an all too familiar nemesis of mine.

*Ding! Ding! Ding!*

"Phew, class is finally over you guys. I was having the greatest plan and I wanted to tell you all throughout the class but that teacher of ours was so bor~ing!"

'Son of a Bitch!' My thoughts are exactly that right now. First the bell cut her off but now Neptune is right by us and I doubt she'll leave anytime soon. Close, I was this close to finding out who Noire has interest in. Damn, now Blanc's persistence is rubbing off on me.

It's not unusual really; I've known them all for almost two weeks now. Not having friends for years has made me a guy who will impression anyone he's around, it's sad yet good at the same time. *Sigh* and here I thought I was my own person finally.

The topic of friendship has eluded me for years. At this point it's not even worth trying to understand fully. Neptune has made sure of that for all of eternity. "Neptune… why must you always bother me?" At least Noire gets what Neptune is all about. She is basically the bane of all of our existences.

"Aw come on Noire, I'm just trying to be your friendly neighborhood heroine Neptune."

"Yet you always find a way to annoy everyone."

Why must they always fight while I'm around? It's annoying to a certain extent but I'm getting used to it more each day. Still… that doesn't excuse Neptune's constant ramblings about absolutely meaningless things. Someday I swear I'll feed her broccoli and she'll finally perish.

"Honestly, why can't you all be more mature like me?" Vert steps in to this fight to gloat about her abundant chest size. That's what I assume anyways. Think about it, it's all she ever talks about.

"Because all you have are tits for brains Vert." Blanc too!? All right this is getting way out of hand. Every time one of them begins to argue the rest join in just to spite me. Fatigue from the fight on Saturday is still present in me; I don't have enough energy to deal with all of them today. The only light in this situation is that Nepgear, Uni, Rom, and Ram have already left to go to our next class.

What am I saying, we need to hurry or else we'll be late. Oh wait I forgot, once they all get into it nothing will stop them. Death is out of the question for sure. "Um we might want to get a move on or else we'll all get tardy slips."

Again, they're all in their own little worlds.

"I still don't see why they're called apartments if they're close together." Neptune spontaneous as always I see.

"That has nothing to do with this?" Noire you are so right on that.

"Why must we sit here and discuss meaningless things? Don't we have a class to attend?" Vert… surprisingly raises a valid point to all of them. Usually she's so focused on other matters.

"For once you're right. Come on bitches we've got to get a move on!" Blanc is as energetic as ever.

The five of us finally take our leave from the previous classroom. It's about time for this much needed exit. There's only about two minutes left to get to our next class before the bell rings and tardy slips are given to us. If I haven't said it before I'll say it now, these girls are the cause and solution to all the problems in my life at this point.

Whatever happens to me from this point on will end up killing me I'm sure of that. Yet, part of me doesn't care anymore about the crazy adventures I've had so far this year. In just almost two weeks I've had more thrills and chills than second grade. Enough blabbering on, the next class begins shortly.

* * *

"Ah lunch, the most stupendous meal of a balanced day." I'll give Vert credit she has a way with words.

"True dat sister." Neptune obviously is influenced by Vert. That or she just really likes lunch.

I don't know what it is about lunch but it just gives off a positive feeling inside. Perhaps it's just all of us being together enjoying a meal. Well, if you could call what they serve us a meal. Point is, a lot of good yet weird things happen to me at the lunch table we call our own.

So far this school year, well almost two weeks more like I've been having great adventures like none I've ever seen. Now I just sound repetitive but it's the truth. I was actually hoping that we could all do something to commemorate the two week mark of our friendship. Ultimately though it's up to them.

After all of us are finally set down, Neptune to not much surprise speaks to the whole group.

"So~ I was wondering you guys… we've been like best buddies for almost two weeks. So~ why don't we all this Saturday go out for a picnic this Saturday to commemorate the occaion?" Neptune, you read my mind. A picnic is the perfect idea for a group activity. It's sort of weird coming from miss lazybones herself.

Going outside is activity, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY! It might kill our sweet little Neptune from stepping one foot in the sunlight. It makes you wander though, why Neptune of all people would suggest an outing for all of us. Something is fishy in all of this, might as well attend though. It's not like I have anything better to do on Saturday.

Now that I think about it further, I haven't been to a large social gathering in quite a while. The time I took Blanc to the pool hall wasn't too big of a deal, just friends hanging out right?

"I'll come I guess, but you owe me." Noire as kind as ever.

"That sounds fun, unlike the work they have us do here." Uni seems to enjoy the idea greatly. She's right about one thing, it's too early in the year to be giving us so much work in one week.

"The snooty chicks right, it's going to be so much fun!" You just have to love the childs spirit in Ram.

"… fun…" Rom is as shy as she was an hour ago I see. I don't know what it is about shy girls but they make me feel warm for some reason. Now I know what most people are thinking right now. "Pedophile!"

While I agree it's sort of weird, she still has a special place in my heart. A place where it's not exactly weird that is. *Sigh* All of them hold a special place in my heart, if it's possible to have eight people in four chambers. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I don't want a harem in the end.

It's mostly a religious matter, nothing against all of them personally. In my mind all of them, minus some unnamed ones are beautiful in their own little way. To hell with a harem though, it's just not my style. Enough said about that though, a picnic on Saturday eh?

The weather on Saturday is supposed to be sunny with slight cloudiness. From what I've seen as well, it's also supposed to be warm that day. Warmth sounds so appealing right now because it's so freaking cold in this school. Everyday I have to wear an extra layer of clothing so I don't die of hypothermia.

"A picnic sounds like a good idea. No camera's though." Ok… Blanc apparently doesn't want her picture taken.

"Ah yes, such a splendid suggestion Nep-Nep! I will be there of course." Vert's on board this crazy train now.

Nepgear being Neptune's sister doesn't have to say she's coming. Even if had a choice in this matter Neptune would still drag her out. It's sad to say that Nepgear is so submissive to her older sister, almost brings a tear to my eye.

"So Jack, you coming to this shindig?" Neptune I hate your vocabulary sometimes.

"Sure, I can bring some good homemade food if you'd like."

This causes Neptune to shake her head up and down violently. Ever since I made her and Nepgear dinner that one time she's been begging me to cook for them again. Even her cute face can't persuade me that easily.

Ever time she asks I say "only if you eat the vegetables this time." And as you'd expect, a decline comes soon after. Nepgear is actually a good dinner guest. Quiet, polite, and well mannered. Unlike some people I know.

I've never cooked for such a large group before, this is getting exciting! Hopefully all of them will enjoy my cooking. Years of loneliness helped perfect it after all. "Anyway Jack, how do you make it taste so good?"

"Good question Neptune. First I take annoying purple haired girls and chop them up. After that, they become the meat I cook with." The only scary part about that joke is that I have a serial killer smile on my face when I said that.

"Ah! Don't chop me up! I'm the protagonist, I can't die yet!" Protagonist of what? Last time I checked Neptune is the last person to be a hero of anything.

"Um sis, it was a joke." Nepgear I love how you can be the voice of reason to your borderline insane sister.

"I wouldn't mind the killing her part…" Blanc speaks up.

All of our mouths are gaping open now. I don't believe any of us expected her to say something like that. Unlike them though, she just kept her emotionless face on. Now I'm convinced Blanc's a sociopath.

Not much to say at this point in the lunch period. For the rest of the time all of us just sit at the table in complete and utter silence.

* * *

Finally Saturday has arrived, the day of our picnic. I've been waiting for this since Tuesday. Hanging out with all of them will be fun and a good way to finally become socially active.

I just hope Neptune didn't forget her own idea this time. Last night she forgot all about a raid on four goddesses online we were supposed to attend. Let bygones be bygones I suppose.

It's almost eleven in the morning and the picnic doesn't start until noon. Still, I've got to see if we have any charcoal for the grills at the park where we're having this. Luckily Maurice still has half a large bag, which should suffice.

Nothing too fancy, just burgers and hot dogs today. Classics that everyone can find a way to enjoy. Everything is going to go perfect today, and all of us are going to have a great time. Who knows, I might learn a thing or two about a few of them.

I'm mostly in the dark. All I want is to be close to them and receive help for the damage I've taken over the years. I may appear to be fine on the outside, but the inside is a different story.

Those dreams where a twisted version of me killing all of them are happening more frequently as of late. Maybe I need to see a doctor about them… maybe. I'm sure their nothing though.

With everything checked off my list I begin to head out the door.

"Leaving? Have fun with them." Maurice winks at me when he says that.

"Pervert…"

With that remark I leave our apartment and head towards the part for a new adventure in the chronicles of Jack!

**A/N: I am soooo sorry it took me so long to update. School has been busier than usual as of late. I just hope that I didn't lack too many details in this chapter from how little I've gotten to work on it. Hopefully I can write more once I get a break in European history. Thanks again for your patience, and leave a review. I'll see you guys in the next update.**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Haa, Haa, Haa…"

Running to the picnic area we agreed on proved harder than I would've thought. It hadn't occurred to me until now but it's starting to change to autumn. So blame it all on the colder air if they ask why I'm so tired.

I can't be tired though, this is the first time all of us have actually gone out and did something as a group. All the adventures I've had so far have only involved two of my friends and me. Two of them at the most I mean. Finally I get a chance to hang out with all of them at once.

To be honest, I was starting to think none of them liked me at all as a friend. Fear consumed my whole being for at least a day. Then a ray of bright sunshine came through. Or should I say lilac hair. That's right, for once Neptune actually came showed me how wrong I was.

As much as I, or anyone for that matter would hate to admit… Neptune isn't that dumb. She has her own way of showing how wise she is. Ok, wise might be going a bit too far but I'm pretty sure the point has been made. The sad part of this whole thing is I can't tell her this or else she'll get cocky and start ordering me around since I'll be "in debt" to her.

Looking at my watch it's Eleven twenty four. The picnic actually doesn't start until noon. My reason for an early arrival is to make sure the food is cooked before they all get here. Just a way of showing all of their making me going insane faces that I'm a cool friend. Geez, now I'm starting to sound like Neptune.

"Well, might as well fire up one of the grills here."

Most parks have charcoal grills around and about the grounds. At last I see the reason for their installment.

"Charcoal… Check. Lighter fluid… Check. Hot Dogs and Hamburger Patties… Check. Buns and Condiments… Check."

So far so good, nothing was left off of my checklist. Neptune and Nepgear were tasked to bring the chips. Nepgear will most likely be the one to have them, knowing her sister. While Noire and Uni offered to supply the drinks to this outing of ours. Both are reliable people, I have nothing to worry about. Blanc, Rom and Ram said they would bring the paper plates and cups. It's hard to mess that up, even so if we didn't have plates it wouldn't kill all of us. And last but not least Vert insisted she be the one to bring the traditional picnic blanket along with some games to provide slight entertainment.

For once in my pathetic existence, things might actually go as planned. Still, I won't count my chickens before they hatch. Anything is possible with these girls. Especially some of the more immature members of the group. I'm not going to mention anyone in particular, *cough* Neptune. *Cough* Vert.

Just by looking at the way those two think one might mistake them for sisters if Nepgear weren't around. However I was never one to judge a book by its cover. Instead I judge by the author. Just because I've known the two of them for a little over two weeks now doesn't mean I know everything about them.

That's just the way I like it though. As long as they don't know everything about me yet I'll be fine. What I talk about now won't be a concern for a while at least. For now I can't think too much on the subject since the first victim, I mean friend has arrived.

Strange enough, she's alone.

"Noire, I didn't expect anyone to come this early."

"I should say the same."

Predictable, she wanted to one-up everyone like usual. She's got a good work ethic I'll give her that. As to why she's alone is a mystery. Usually Uni would be trying to get the better of her sister who is getting the better of everyone else. I guess Noire finally got the better of Uni's getting the better of. Better?

And the word of the day is better. Enough of that though, I'm still curious as to why she showed up this early. Its eleven thirty from what my watch says, that's early even by Noire standards. She doesn't have any drinks with her, another motive perhaps?

"How did I know you'd be here this early?" Noire speaks to me in her usual self righteous tone.

"We've been friends for a little over two weeks, you know me enough by now probably."

Yet I don't have the slightest clue about her. Every time I think I come closer to understanding I just end up with more questions than answers. Of course these dilemmas have caused me much hardship recently.

Knowledge of the rest of the girls is limited greatly much like Noire. Even though it's sort of… ok it is completely being nosey, I kind of want to learn a whole cornucopia of information about each of them. I'm just scared about the possible future is all.

The outcome I fear the most is that they didn't actually see me as a friend and I end up being embarrassed. Afterwards I go into a more depressed state than I was in. However, there are two sides to every coin.

The more favorable ending is I build our friendships to a whole new level. If that ends up happening, then I might, just might have hope in this life.

"Are you ok? You seem spaced out more than usual." Maybe I misjudged Noire, she has a concerned side to her. Even though it's just me thinking a little bit Noire's generally concerned about my well-being. "I'm… fine. I just need to lie down for a little bit."

"Ok, here let me help you. Bu… but I'm not doing this out of kindness, just making sure you don't die on me."

I don't think I'm going to die, I hope not at least. Death is sort of a crappier alternative to my life. I'm also too stubborn to just kick the bucket.

Noire's hands are placed on my shoulders to guide me to the ground. I don't know how to explain this, but her touch is soft and firm at the same time. It's… comforting, that's all I can say about it.

Looking back up her pigtails are flowing in the wind. It hadn't occurred to me before because I'd been to focused in other matters, but Noire is what the modern kids call not bad.

Saying these sorts of things feels wrong though, she's one of my greatest friends after all. Granite she's one of my only friends but who the hell's counting? Now that my mind is finally clearing, I can see truths where I have not before.

After a slow lowering down I finally hit the ground. To be honest my mind cleared up on the way down here. It's just… I don't want to get up immediately after Noire helped me down. She's a girl who has severe pride issues I've learned that much about her at least. So I'm pretty sure every man understands not to damage someone's pride or else they get really pissed at you.

"Thank you Noire… you're a really good friend."

My remark causes her to blush a little bit. I think that's my hidden ability in life, make people blush just by saying anything a friend would say. Then again I haven't had friends in many years. I don't exactly know how to talk to people my age properly yet.

"Well… you're welcome Jack. Just one more reason I'm better than anyone else." Like I said pride issues.

"Since no one else is around I can finally tell you what I meant to tell you Wednesday."

Sweet sassy molassy I'm going to find out who Noire has a crush on so early in the year. Her lips come close to my left ear and she begins to whisper. "It's… actually AHHH!"

"Ahhh!" My screams have achieved the blood curdling level now.

Goddamn Neptune has to show up right when things are getting interesting. If this whole Noire about to tell me then Neptune shows up and ruins it act keeps going on I'll never progress mentally. And to think I was complimenting Neptune earlier.

In case you're having trouble processing what has just occurred, Neptune went up and grabbed Noire from behind. The surprised yell of Noire almost made me go deaf. The only good part of Neptune showing up when she did is now it won't be so awkward with just Noire and me around.

In the distance I can see Nepgear running after her idiotic older sister. Upon further inspection Neptune doesn't appear to have anything in her hands. Going back to Nepgear I can see she's carrying many bags likely filled with the chips for today's menu.

The only word that comes to mind is savagery. It's not only rude to make your more responsible younger sister carry all the bags even if they aren't that heavy, it's also savage to be able to still laugh and kill peoples ears while they fall behind. Sometimes Neptune knows just how to piss me off.

On a more friendly note my gentlemen side comes out for this part. Picking myself off the dusty ground proves a challenge that even Hercules himself would have trouble with. My ears are to the point of almost bleeding and getting up too quickly wasn't the best idea. Thoughts right now on the pain I feel include…

'Good Lord Neptune How You Frustrate Me So!'

Still, the pain isn't bad enough for me to cringe, just enough to get annoying. Slowly but surely I walk over to Nepgear. My right arm reaches out to her and like I expected she's a tad confused at this. She's a bit of an airhead when it comes to small tasks. However she catches on quickly and hands me about half of the bags.

Cures my gentlemen nature, it's going to kill me one of these days I'm sure. Hell, I can't even see myself as a gentleman anymore since last Friday. Almost killing a man tends to do that to you.

Nepgear doesn't care about that ordeal on Friday. She even went on to tell me that I showed a lot of maturity by not and admitting I had a moment of weakness. Afterwards Uni said that I overcame the temptation of it. Uni could've also just been a little happy that I gave her the first magic deck she's ever had.

The area where we are holding the picnic is nothing more than just an area of some really green grass. After getting the imaginary guideline in place Nepgear and I place the bags of chips down gently.

"Thank you Jack, you didn't have to help someone like me though carry. But thank you again for your assistance."

Someone like me? It hadn't hit me until now but Nepgear has some serious issues when it comes to seeing self worth. Am I a bad friend that I didn't notice that trait until recently? Gah! I hate trying to understand people! Keep your cool Jack, we don't want a repeat of the last football game.

"No problem, just ask if you ever need anything alight?" Now I'm starting to sound like one of those anime high school characters.

The making girls' blushes counter goes up to two today. It's barely visible but I can make out the rose color on Nepgear's cheeks. Adorable is the only word that comes to mind at its sight.

"Phew, all this running really brings a sweat to my forehead." Really Neptune? You didn't even carry anything you left all the work to Nepgear instead. I'm not just talking about the physical part. Examining the bags of chips closer I can see the wide variety of flavors. Nepgear must've organized this to not disappoint anyone with a missing flavor.

There's only one chip that matters in my book though… the holy cheddar sour cream. Even if there were just plain potato chips I'm sure no one would care. All of us being together for once and actually doing something.

Food is good but company's better. And it always will be for generations to pass.

"You haven't done anything else so why are you complaining?" Damn Noire is getting on Neptune more than usual today. Can't say I blame her though, she does have it coming.

"Says the one with no friends." No! Not the friend argument again. Last time it happened I never heard the end of it. Just when it is starting to die down Neptune has to go and throw gasoline on the fire.

"Now now ladies, is today a good day to fight?" Oh boy Vert am I glad to see you. Entering at this moment may have just saved us from the endless nagging of Neptune and Noire.

Why can't Noire come clean already? I know deep inside she cares for Neptune as a friend even though she can show it in a cold manner. And Neptune to not tease her for this. Somewhere inside their hearts I know there is a mutual respect for each other.

"I guess you're right…" Noire's pride has taken a hit. Her eyes are closed tightly and she's shaking a bit trying to control her emotions.

There's more light to this whole picnic though, past Vert's shoulder I can see Rom and Ram running while Blanc is slowly behind them. Next to Blanc is Uni who is carrying the drinks. In Blanc's hands are bags with a smaller bag of paper plates and plastic cups.

Uni must've caught up with Blanc at least and walked the rest of the way with them. If Uni wants to surpass Noire's work till you're about dead attitude then she has a long way to go. It's going to be entertaining to say the least.

"Uni, you're later than I expected." It's only eleven fifty, this damn picnic doesn't officially start until noon. Noire's over expectations of her sister are probably the reason Uni doesn't see her self worth at times.

"I- I'm sorry Noire. I'll do better next time." Uni's facial expression goes from bad to worse. Just saying that probably shook her confidence.

"While it is entertaining to a certain degree I must ask you to stop this squabbling. Sisters having their own moments make me jealous." Oh yeah Vert doesn't have any siblings. She claims she's jealous of the others for not having siblings, I'd kill to be an only child.

"One of these days Maurice… One of these days." I whisper that to myself.

As quiet as I try to keep my thoughts Rom manages to hear me a little. Damn she has Vulcan hearing. "Are you… alright Mister Jack?"

"You don't have to call me mister you know, just Jack is fine."

Now I've managed to hurt her feelings… I think. Her usual sad look goes into a new stage. One possibility is that I made her think she was doing something wrong. Who cares though, I know how to make it alright.

"I'm alright though, thank you for asking." I smile and hold my hand out to reassure her that she's done nothing wrong.

Her frown goes to a smile and for the first time ever since I've known her she puts her arms down to her sides. I always wandered why her arms always covered her mouth. I guess it has to do with her over the top shy personality.

"Hey dummy! Wanna play tag with me and Rom?" Ram calls out to Rom and I. Normally I would let my inner child break out but I can't do it right now. Someone has to use the grill and I don't trust of few of the people in the group with charcoal, a lighter and lighter fluid.

"Sorry Ram, I've got to get cooking. Maybe later ok?"

"Ok!" She's the polar opposite of Rom I'll give her that.

Well, time to get up off my ass and get grilling. The time is eleven fifty four and a great time to cook. Already today there has been so many events. Even if a few people can't stay in order. After I talked to Rom Neptune just vanished, Nepgear went under a tree to talk to Uni, and Vert and Blanc are fighting a little for obvious reasons.

Hell yeah today is a good day. Even if they are a rowdy bunch I still like them. As friends that is, nothing weird. As I light the charcoal I think to myself. "Who's going to be the one who kills me today?"

**A/N: Terribly sorry again for the delay in updates. I know that the chapter kind of sucks right, since I can't keep conversations between people going on. There's only so much I'm capable of. Even through my horrible writing some people stick through and give me support.**

**Review for further improvement. And Message me if you have any ideas about future chapters, they might get featured. That's all for now, see you in the next update.**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

*Sizzle* *Sizzle* *Sizzle*

Damn I'm a great cook, hopefully everyone else will enjoy this meal. The menu you ask? Only the finest hamburgers and hot dogs that man can make. I swear I only get this cocky when I cook. Otherwise I'm a pretty level headed guy… most of the time.

Just the smell of the food is enough to leave them all in awe. Even if they're everyday food items I'll still find a way to make it smell good. I do use some spices though but we'll save that secret for another day.

"Mmm, that sure smells good!" Finally Ram is the first to compliment the chef.

"Smells good…" Ok Rom you don't need to be influenced by everything your twin sister says.

However they both are correct, even I'm impressed about how well they smell. The taste will be out of this world at this rate. Surely they won't be that hard to please. There is the possibility that I am wrong about this. Who cares, that's future jack's problem.

"I must admit Jack, all of your food smells great. I don't want to cook however! Just not an interest."

Behind Noire is the others minus Nepgear gathering saying in synch, "Tsundere~"

If it's one thing I've learned in the two weeks of knowing Noire it's this. 'Don't ever and I mean ever call Noire a tsundere!' Time to go to plan B. I only say this because Noire is getting the most pissed off expression I have ever seen on someone's face.

"Ok everyone lunch is ready! Come get it while it's hot!" Nothing distracts arguments better than a nice lunch. And man did it work, everyone except Noire has ceased whatever they were doing and is now trying to get a taste of the greatest Hot Dogs or Hamburgers ever.

There's more than enough for everyone to have two of each of them. Even though they're girls they can eat. Just not too long ago Blanc was able to eat the whopping catfish sandwich, a side of French Fries, and a milkshake. Better be safe than sorry I always say.

Scratch that about Noire and I being the only ones who aren't getting food yet, Nepgear stands with us now. Probably not to be rude. Oh well, I've got one hell of a surprise for Noire and Nepgear. No not that kind of surprise, get your mind out of the gutters.

"Nepgear, why aren't you getting some food, there's enough for everyone."

"I'm just not hungry is all. Don't worry, I'll get some later."

Knowing her sister it'll be too late to grab any crumbs within a fifty mile radius. Neptune's eating habits are the only one in the group that I know. I'd imagine Vert is polite most of the time. I can't help but feel as if Vert doesn't like me very much as a friend. We haven't exactly hung out in a while.

Oh well, toady is a day to connect with them all. I can't imagine that any of them would desire to connect with me though. Maybe it's all in my head, I don't understand women. Then again how many men do? As Maurice always told me and don't get offended, "Don't try to understand women. Women understand women and they hate each other."

Ok getting off track here, time to return to the tracks. Standing by the public grill now is Noire, Nepgear and I. I'm not so sure what Noire's doing right now. This sort of thing isn't my expertise. I'll admit being called names isn't ever pretty inside. Getting called names on a daily basis has taught me that one fact.

Its how you deal with the stress that comes with it, that's what truly defines your strength and willpower. Noire can appear cold and even rude at times. However there have been moments where her true personality has shined. It pains me so much to see a friend suffer in their own little way.

Great, now I'm developing actual friendship characteristics for Noire. To be honest, I'm happy. My emotional development is increasing and proving I'm not a heartless freak as I am called. Take that everyone in Middle School!

I've got just the cure to snap Noire out of her trance. Taking the tongs and one of the paper plates provided by Blanc, Rom and Ram, A hot dog and hamburger bun that was generously provided by yours truly. Some of the delicious food cooked by the moderately attractive chef is placed on said buns. Afterwards I take some BBQ flavored chips and put them next to the main course. Don't ask how I know she likes that flavor, it's just a hunch.

Much like the first plate I prepare a second plate for Nepgear in much the same manner. The only difference being this plate has Sour Cream and Onion chips instead of BBQ. It's time to see what they think of it. Nepgear is hungry I can sense it in a way. She probably just didn't want get in anyone's way.

"Here Noire, Nepgear, try some." I hand the both of them the plates that I just crafted. Looks of confusion soon follow. Noire snaps out of this trance she's in and takes a plate from my hand. Her neutral look that she had been bearing all day so far finally turns into a smile. If I've said it once I'll say it again. Damn I'm good.

"Thank you, at least you and Nepgear have decency."

Afterwards Noire just starts walking towards where everyone else is. I hope she doesn't stir up trouble. Nah, that's Neptune's job to cause chaos. In other news, I still have to get Nepgear to join the party.

Nepgear takes notice at my offer from about thirty seconds ago. Now it's her turn to not be confused anymore. Instead of a neutral look, her frown is converted into a smile. Aside from Noire's smile moments ago, this is the cheeriest I've seen one of my new friends.

"Thank you Jack, yo…you're really nice."

Ok now this is starting to get confusing for me. Do friends just randomly say you're really nice? I know I'm a bit repetitive about this subject but how friendship works still eludes me. But the icing on the cake is that now whenever she or even a couple more of them compliment me I get all tingly inside.

Maybe I should see a doctor about that, it could be the possible result of a tumor.

Crisis averted though, after a quick wave she hurries over to meet the others on the hilariously oversized picnic blanket Vert Brought. I must give credit where credit is due, the blanket is roomy.

Something else is bothering me though, her cheeks were more flushed red than I've ever seen them. Seriously, why does this keep happening? One normal day is all I asked for, one!

Keep it cool Jack, things can't possibly escalate further down the crazy trail now. I get my own plate of food as well as a cooler I brought. Don't ask what's in it yet, I'll get to that in a minute.

Taking my place on the blanket, now is a good time to reveal the greatest invention since American Jazz.

The cooler opens and angels sing about the holiness of its contents.

"What… is that?" Uni asked with a very curious tone.

"I've never seen anything like it." You will see it more often now Vert.

For those of you who can't guess, it's the greatest soft drink in the history of soft drinks. Ale8. I swear upon my life one taste of the holy beverage and you'll be able to die with no regrets.

The best part is I brought enough for everyone including myself. Nodding, everyone grabs their respective drink.

"*Pop!* All the tabs go up, moment of truth.

"…"

"…"

"…" Silence… all I hear is silence.

"Yahoo! This stuff is delish!" Neptune like it a lot apparently.

"It's refreshing… like a cool winter's day with tangerines." Blanc has spoken up about how much she likes it.

The next few comments are from all of them just saying how good it is. The surprising part of this is that all of the cans are empty in almost no time flat. Good lord I know Ale8 is good but I didn't think it could frenzy them all so much. I know what comes next… the begging for more.

"Hey Jack, go get us some more." I thought Noire of all people would be polite about this. People can change sometimes in the blink of an eye.

"You'll be the greatest person in the world if you do." Not you too Uni.

"Come on Jackie-poo, go on a fetch quest and get some." Understandable by Neptune but nobody is allowed to call me that.

If it will get them to stop begging I'll go get some more. There's a convenient store not too far from where we are, might as well go there. I can't stand to see girls get sad because of something I did, I don't know why.

Standing up I signal all of them that I'm off on what Neptune calls a "fetch quest" for more Ale8. Nothing bad can come of it right?

* * *

Finally, the convenient store is near me. Not too far before I can call this adventure quits. I'm just amazed by how much has happened in the short period of time I've known them all. It's shocking me beyond belief.

Whatever, just keep walking towards the door. Upon reaching said door, it opens with a man who looks about my age walking out. He's wearing a black suit and has his hair slicked back. Not only that, but he's carrying a walking stick for show most likely. That or he has a condition where he needs it and I feel like a dick afterwards.

I've never seen him around town before, maybe he just moved in. If that's the case then there might be a bigger freak than me now.

We brush against each other accident, giving him a quick glance, he glances back at me. After that, we both just return to our everyday business. I didn't even see him leave to anywhere.

Inside is like any other convenient store. Cold, smelly, and has overpriced items. I'm just here for a twelve pack of Ale8, nothing too complicated. I walk to the back of the store and take the twelve pack I had been seeking.

Going back up to the counter, the cashier rings me up and sends me on my way. Like I said, nothing too complicated. All that's left is to get back to the picnic.

* * *

Back at the picnic area where this whole journey began nothing much has changed. We have Blanc sitting under a tree reading a book. How one person can read so much is always going to be a mystery in my book. Get it?

Rom, Ram, Vert, Neptune and Nepgear are picking up sticks and using them to play swordfight. Someone's going to end up getting hurt from this, even if it's just playing around.

That leaves Noire the only one left. All I see her doing is sleeping under a tree. From all the work she does it's no surprise she's tuckered out. I brought my own blanket in case I wanted to sleep today, I guess Noire can use it. The temperature is getting lower by the hour today. Wouldn't want her to wake up freezing.

Walking over to her I gently place the blanket on her to make it comfortable and keep her warm without waking her up. She looks so peaceful while she sleeps. Being the first time seeing this means I could never have made that observation. "Sweet dreams Noire." I whisper before standing up.

The stick fighters are too rowdy for my tastes, I think I'll go join Blanc and read. Before I can get over there actually I'm summoned to the combatants group. I guess I can play with them for a little before retreating to a good read.

"Jack, be our target!" Neptune that's dumb… wait what!?

Before I get a chance to react Neptune comes jumping really high and holding her stick back.

"Like a kangaroo!"

The only defensive option I have is to hold my hands up and deflect. As her stick strikes my forearms it releases a massive thud noise. The noise it made proves that it hurts like hell!

My arms are still up while she jumps back. Vert with excellent speed Vert comes and performs a stab attack with her extremely long stick that resembles a spear. The tip of the "spear" hit my ribcage before I had time to react. Unlike Neptune's strike, this one hits with direct force.

"Ahh!" Why are they doing this!? I thought we were friends!

Finally being able to stand back up Rom and Ram come up behind me and hit both my legs with their staves. My balance is a little shaken but not enough to make me fall over. Nepgear, the one person I thought would never hurt me puts the final nail in the coffin.

"Hyiaa!" Her stick sword actually breaks once it hits my chest. And I thought Neptune was strong. The ultimate betrayal of a friend, getting a stick broken across your body.

"Et tu Nepgear?"

Translation for anyone who didn't take a high school ancient history class. "And you Nepgear?"

"I'm sorry… they made me do it." That isn't too hard to believe.

"You were taking way too long with your fetch quest, so we had to punish you." Your logic makes no sense Neptune.

"Yeah dummy, next time go faster." Ram's just a kid so impatience is expected.

"Faster…" Rom needs some independence.

Ok, maybe I did go a little bit slow on the way back here. But did they really have to go that far with the "punishment?"

"Hey Jack, we still love you buddy, come here!"

After regaining my composure Neptune gives me a hug. Soon after, Vert joins in the part too. Before I know it, Blanc walks over and starts to hug me as well. Rom and Ram finally give in to peer pressure and offer their arms. Nepgear hugs me along with seven other girls.

All the commotion woke Noire up. Now she wants in on the action and gets in the blob around me. "You're a great friend Jack!" All eight of them say in synch.

I don't care anymore, this is great. For years I wanted friends, and now I have them. So today didn't turn out to bad after all, and the picnic was a success. It's about time to leave, I have one hell of a tale to tell Maurice tonight.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Here we are again in an all too familiar setting. It's Sunday afternoon and like always I have nothing to do. Maybe I'll just sit here for the rest of the day and see if I can take a nap. That won't do though, it was hell getting my sleep schedule back in order the last time I did that.

Yesterday's picnic wore me out greatly, I can still feel the pain of the strikes. That's the only reason I'm taking it easy for now. It's not that I don't like relaxing, it's just ever since I met my friends I haven't had many moments of quiet. I guess I just have come to accept chaos.

'Bzzz! Bzzz!' The relaxing day is about to go down hill I can already feel it.

To my surprise it's a group message from Uni, one of the less psychotic people in the group. However she still has her moments like all the rest. Opening up the message I can finally read what's in it.

'A new quest came out today in 4 Goddesses Online, it would be fun if we all did something together again.'

I know I'm going to regret this but it's better than rotting away. Taking out my laptop I start it up. Entering the password I put on it to keep Maurice out, we'll save the story for another day. Finally it's time to start gaming.

Going to the website is no longer required since last time I downloaded to link and made a shortcut. It's actually been some time since I played last. Knowing the friends I have they've been leveling up all week leaving me in the dust. It can't be helped though, it's an unwritten rule or something.

Once the game is loaded completely I can see where I am. So apparently I'm in a small town to the south of Leanbox. The land of Green Pastures isn't my favorite land to say the least. You'd think I'd spawn in a Lastation town of sorts being my character's nationality.

The first thing I have to do before I can complain though is look where the quest marker is. To my luck the quest giver is in a nearby town. So the quest itself is in Leanbox? Well this is going to be fun.

'Ping!' A PM from Uni.

"We'll be right there, stay tight in Hero City."

So that's what this town, or rather city is called. I can't believe they're all coming to me just to start this quest. It'd be much more efficient for me to meet them in the town. Oh well, they're an odd bunch.

While I wait, I guess I could check out some of the item shops set up around here. Already I can see a few stalls and actually buildings with wares amongst them. I have been meaning to get a new sword, the one I use is still that crappy on from the first time I played.

Looking around I don't notice anything in particular that catches my eye. Most of the stores only carry spears. Now that I think about it that only makes since being leanbox's weapon of choice.

Sigh, finding a sword here will be harder than I thought. At this rate I might just have to go and use weak weapons for the quest, unless it's a simple gathering quest.

"Come one come all to my great stand. Let's get something out of the way though, yes these wares were probably ripped from the hands of dead adventurers."

Great… one of those merchants. The ones that don't do any of the crafting and instead just take dead peoples items. I used to be one of those back in the day, trying to make some quick gold. Credits in this games case.

Might as well see what he has to offer in terms of swords.

The mans stall covers almost everything in terms of items. Healing potions, agility potions, charms, jewelry, and even swords. All that's left to do now is see what he wants for one of the blades.

"Good day shopkeep, I'd like to buy a sword from you if that's alright."

"Ah yes hello friend how are you?" Wait, he called me friend? Have I met this guy before?

"It's me William, we met back in Lowee." He let out a chuckle that just makes him sound more insane. Can I really trust this guy?

It is true that I need a new weapon. Shady arms dealers only end up getting you killed. I guess I really don't have a choice in the matter, he's the only one selling swords in this town after all.

"Yes I remember you now about that sword."

"Patients Friend, I will give you good wares. Just let me find it."

He reaches into a fancy looking chest behind the stall. Out of it he pulls a carefully wrapped sword. He takes off all the wrapping and I can finally get a good view of what I'm probably going to end up buying.

The blade was crimson colored and gave off the aura of power. Every so often flashes of red lightning would appear on the blade. In terms of the hilt it looked like any other katana hilt. A diamond pattern on each side of it leading up to the circular cross guard.

I don't care what anyone else would say about such a cliché sword, it will be mine!

"How much for it?" I already know I'm not going to like the answer.

"It's hard to put a price on it but… fifty thousand credits should suffice."

Fifty… thousand… credits! That's way too much for one blade. Even so I still have about seventy eight thousand credits in my pouch. Something just doesn't feel right about blowing that much money.

Maybe I can come back later after the quest with some rare item and trade him. Too risky though, someone might buy it before I get back.

"For you my friend I'll drop the price to forty thousand."

Well that's sort of a relief, sort of. Not as bad as the original price so I should consider myself to be one lucky bastard. What the hell, I'll buy the damn sword.

"Sold!"

"One more thing, sixty thousand and I'll throw in this shiny new revolver."

Wow, he really is the definition of a merchant. Not only knowing what I like, but giving a bundle offer. The revolver I use isn't too good anyway, I've actually been thinking about scrapping the hunk of junk.

"Ok, you have a deal."

He gives off the same creepy smile as before and begins wrapping up the items. After a little bit a new screen pops up in front of me.

'Do you agree to pay 60,000 credits to William?"

Obviously I select yes and then the screen disappears. Light flashes before the both of us and when it subsides a huge bag of money is in front of the crazy merchant. The items I just bought are in my inventory now.

"I guess I'll see you some other time. Take care."

As I turn around a hand goes on my shoulder and I halt. What does that old fool want now? (I'm not sure if he is that old but his avatar looks that way.)

"Before you go, take this as a sign of your loyalty."

A new item appears in my inventory. I suppose he wants a thank you from this. "I have no use for it anymore and nobody wants it. Maybe you'll find use for it somewhere."

Great so now I'm getting the scrap that no one wants? I'm feeling the love here man. "Thank you, I'll see what I can do."

Even though I'm being polite right now, I still don't want to be here longer than I need to be. And with that I'm off finally to wait for my friends.

* * *

About ten minutes have passed since I had and encounter with that insane merchant. I decided to check up on the quest details a little. So the story behind this new quest is that there are some rare materials in a dungeon that a wealthy person wants to own. As well as the basilicom of the area would like to collect mapping data on this new unearthed dungeon.

Now I'm not so sure about this. Last I checked, unmapped dungeons have a lot of high level monsters and traps… a lot of traps!

I sense a disturbance in the force, like something really bad is going to happen on this adventure. Usually my gut is correct about this sort of thing, but I feel like cheating death more than ever today.

Besides, it's too late to quit now, the party I'm with has just arrived. The only avatars I haven't gotten a chance to see yet are Neptune's, Noire's, and Blanc's. Let's see what they have to offer.

Neptune's avatar is a huge jump from her normal self. For instance she's much taller than she is IRL. Her hair is a darker shade of lilac and worn in twin braidssince it's longer. The suit she is wearing is a black bathing suit sort of outfit with gloves reaching up most of her arm, and boots reaching up most of her leg. The top her hands also have the same N logo that Nepgear has. The hand portion of her arm wear resemble claws of sorts.

Noire's isn't too out of this world, containing a black bathing suit outfit much like with silver linings in some parts. Much like Neptune she has gloves and boots reaching up a vast majority of their respective limbs. Her hair is pure white and worn down completely as well as her eye color changing to teal. The hand portion of her arm wear resemble claws much like Neptune.

Finally Blanc's avatar has spiky light blue hair with a shade of pink eyes. The outfit on her is a with one peace like most of the others with lines of blue in some areas with black triangles on her side. Her gloves go up all of her arms and to her shoulders. Much like Noire and Neptune she has claw hands as well.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Jack, getting here proved more difficult than anticipated." Noire opens up with the reason of their tardiness.

I don't mind it one bit mind you, but I can't let out how soft I am to apologetic girls yet. Other than that, I'm ready to go get some rare materials in the name of the basilicom and some rich jerk.

"It's fine, so shall we get going to the cave entrance?"

All of them nod and we begin to head east towards the cave of unknown origin. One thing's for sure, the fun has just begun.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of walking (we were also slowed down by monsters spawning in our area), all nine of us reach our destination. As I said before, I have a bad feeling about this.

"Are… are you sure we should go in?" I'm asking the same question Nepgear.

"I'm… scared to go in." You and me both Rom.

However with a party of nine this will surely be a piece of pie. Oh wait… have I been saying that wrong this whole time? Oh who cares, I'm going to go in.

"We can't let our fears get to us, we must persevere." Vert in this game you are so motivational.

"Besides, as long as you have me around we can't lose." I wish I had that special Noire brand arrogance.

Rom and Nepgear are both nodding now as a show of the new confidence surging through their bodies. Noire's right though, I bet her level is ten times what mine is right now. Even with my new weapons I still won't be able to catch up with all of their skills.

"I'm going because all of you need me." Well it appears the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree Uni.

"I can't let a bunch of dummies do all the work." I wish I had that child innocents Ram.

"All right, we're all on board now, let's go complete a quest everyone." Neptune's personality changes drastically when she plays this game apparently. I'm not saying that's a bad thing mind you, I actually like this Neptune more.

With all of us in unison, we walk through the cave entrance and are prepared for what awaits us within the depths of this uncharted wonder.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

In unison we walk into the darker, dank cave. The feeling of evil radiates more with each step. I'm starting to understand why a nation wouldn't want to do this themselves. Just the caves name is enough to make you wet the bed.

'Dark Underworld hollow.'

The name keeps repeating in my mind as we continue to walk. Nothing bad will come of us though, we are practically the strongest party in gaming existence… I think.

Still, if the quest is so new, wouldn't that mean the basilicom of Leanbox has already investigated the cave? If that's the case whatever is in here must be guarded by a really powerful monster. To think a country would send people to their deaths just for some rare materials.

It's too early to make assumptions though, so for now I'll turn a blind eye. That doesn't mean I won't still debate what's going on.

At times like these it's best to just stick with the group and battle whatever comes our way. Perhaps some of them have input about the situation. Especially the new and improved Neptune.

As I said before, she changed her personality just by turning on a game. The Neo-Neptune is a lot more tolerable than her other self. It only makes sense that she could actually contribute to the discussion.

"Isn't a little odd that Leanbox's basilicom would leave such a trivial task to mercenaries of sorts?" That's what I was talking about; the gap in her personalities is a pleasant one to say the least.

"I agree, we're better than noob quests." Uni's pride is showing again.

So they decided to talk it out amongst themselves? Saves me the trouble of bringing it up myself at least. It's still bugging me though about what could be so dangerous in this cave.

Caves that are really dangerous go down quite a bit. The one we're in however just goes down about three meters. It may not be that deep of a cave but it's really long and has plenty of places to get lost in.

The rock on the ceiling isn't even that thick. Maybe a few bullets could break it and show some light. That part isn't necessary on account the wall have these crystals that light up the place enough to see.

"*Crash!*

The cave wall that's directly southeast of us has just been broken down by a huge monster. To say its large would be a huge understatement. In terms of height it stands at around nine feet. Not the biggest enemy I've fought but still rather towering.

If I'd have to take a guess on what mythological creature this is supposed to resemble it'd have to be a golem. Its whole body is made out of what looks like decaying stone.

Its left arm has a half-sphere with many spikes placed upon it in place of a hand. As well as the left shoulder of the creature has a larger pauldron than the right side, which looks like a standard piece of armor.

Both legs are cylinders at the bottom layer that become smaller ones on the way up to its massive torso.

And finally on its back is a wheel of some sorts where all we can see are hilts of what I can assume are blades. Its right hand if you could call it that has only three fingers. All of which don't look capable of doing anything unless it's a punch. Maybe the game designers just added the swords for the cool and ancient effect.

No matter what the reason for the blades is… its still going to die by my blade!

Drawing my new sword from its sheath lightning aids in aura of awe. Red lightning mind you. I don't feel like wasting bullets so my revolver won't be a part of this fight. Everyone else follows in my example and draws their weapons.

Neptune's sword is a dark purple katana with blue lines going up and down on it in some areas. The way it looks implies it's a futuristic weapon, almost like a high frequency blade.

Noire's weapon of choice is a shiny metal blade with a crescent hilt and two blades running parallel from the top end of the hilt. Remind me to get one of those next time I see William.

Last but certainly not least is Blanc's axe. The body of the axe is sort of like a white futuristic metal while the head of the axe is light blue as if made of an energy of sorts. My Jack sense is telling me not to mess with her in real life or this one.

My instinct for battle gets the better of me. "Charge!"

Going to its left side is the younger sisters of the group while to the right side are the older sisters. Me on the on the other hand am advancing directly in the center.

The ancient stone comprising the golems body shakes when it first moves. Its right arm cocks back then strikes the earth. The hit is strong enough to make the foundations of the cave shake, but more importantly sends large pieces of rock up to hit the older sisters.

Blanc uses the blade of her axe to pulverize one of the rocks heading towards her, but still takes minor damage from the smaller ones. The same goes for Noire only taking out the major threat.

Vert spins her spear around deflecting all of the rocks away from her. One of the benefits of joining Leanbox's side.

Neptune didn't react fast enough and has a large rock coming straight at her. Guess I don't have a choice now. I'll have to use a bullet or two after all.

Taking my revolver out of the holster I put it in and with hardly no time to aim I have no choice but to pull the trigger.

"*Bang!*"

"*Crash!*"

The bullet I fired hits the rock and shatters it into little pieces. All of said pieces go either to the right or left of Neptune. Thanks to my deadly accurate aim Neptune avoided taking damage.

"Thanks Jack, I owe you one."

"I'll just put it on your tab."

To the golem's left Nepgear goes in for a downward strike. The golem in response raises his left arm up to block the blade. Uni then runs up behind and fires her cannon directly into the golem's back.

"*Bang!* *Bang!*"

Naturally the golem falls to one knee after taking a direct hit from Uni's massive weapon. Seeing this as my chance I make my move. Running as fast as I can to not give my enemy any edge I reach its head.

Well, helmet more would be a more appropriate term. The reason being that the face has stone lines going out in a manner that it looks like a medieval era helmet. I ready my blade and with full force stab the tip of the sword between the armor lines.

The initial reaction as expected is the golem getting back on its feet once more. It happened so fast that I was knocked back in the process, leaving my sword still stuck in its head.

It'll take some precise timing to get it back, but I'll manage for the time being. Besides, I have eight warriors to back me up if I get into too much danger. On the bright side, the flashes of red lightning are happening still slowly draining its health.

"Jack!" Ram calls out to me. "Take this!"

Suddenly a few chucks of ice appear in front of me. They come together and form a new sword.

It's a pretty basic weapon to say the least, the hilt having stripes going side to side. The cross guard is in the shape of a hexagon with spikes coming out all the angles. And finally the blade is a double-edged on that's pretty wide for a blade.

It'll have to do for now, so all I do is smile and nod. In turn she does the same.

Getting back to the fight, our golem friend seems to be losing his composure. Our rag-tag team of misfits keeps pushing him back but are still struggling here and there.

With a new sword in hand, it's high time to continue the fight. Running back up to where the rest of the party is, I take a stance in case there is need to defend. "Welcome back Jack, glad you didn't totally miss the party." Noire says to me with hints arrogance.

So far in the fight all Noire has done is deflect blows and occasionally get a hit in when it leaves its guard down. My Jack sense is tingling again, something super awesome is about to happen.

Noire closes her eyes for a few moments. Upon opening them her sword turns into a rainbow it seems. She runs straight at the golem with bloodlust in her eyes. With a swift motion she jumps high in the air and raises her sword.

The golem holds its left arm up to block the strike but I can already tell it will be futile. As gravity does its magic and starts to bring Noire back to the ground, she performs a downward slash and strikes the golems arm.

"*Clash!*"

As the blade makes contact with the ancient stone, cracks in it become apparent. Now's the time to perform one hell of a game changing attack.

Equipping an item called to swiftfoot boots, I begin to run towards the fearsome stone adversary.

You see, the special thing about these boots is the incredible speed they grant me. I move so fast now that fire follows my feet and wherever I tread.

As its arm goes up in another attempt to strike, I make move. My whole body goes down to the ground into a slide. When I reach the area where its right arm and torso meet I leap into action.

Planting my own left arm into the ground to stop me for only a moment is the first part of this dangerous plan. Once I come to an almost complete stop, I use all my strength to push my body upwards.

All the while my ice sword courtesy of Ram is hugging my chest. The blade goes back as far as it can go.

"*Slash!*"

Launching my sword out will all the strength my right arm can muster, I sliced clean through the bond holding the right arm to its body.

"Wow…" The party says in unison.

In the way I jumped I managed to back flip in from of the stone monstrosity again. Like before it is on one knee and appears to be in a lot of pain even though I'm sure it doesn't have nerves.

Doing one more back flip to gain some distance, I then utilize the swiftfoot boots once more. As you could guess my feet are on fire again.

Upon reaching the hilt of the sword I lodged in it earlier my left hand swiftly grasps it. It's then ripped straight out of the head from me doing a quick front flip. As I spin in the air, both blades I am holding are carving into its back like I'm some kind of bladed wheel.

Once I land on my own two feet, my job is done.

"You all can finish this if you'd like."

"With pleasure, die asshole!" That's a Blanc war cry for sure.

Blanc jumps into the air while lifting that huge axe of hers over her head. The axe hits with devastating force and nearly shatters not only the enemy, but the cave as well from the immense force of the strike.

"Don't hog all the fun." Vert shows up behind the golem with her spear ready to strike.

"Rainy Ratnapura!" Vert's spear begins a series a jabbing motions that I can barely follow, it's moving too fast.

The back plate of the golems armor begins to break off from all the strikes it's taking.

"Ram!"

"Yep, our turn!"

Blanc and Vert back away from the golem and Rom and Ram hold out their staves. In one blink of an eye, the enemy is encased in thick ice. Effective indeed, but wouldn't doing that at the beginning of the fight save time?

Neptune is the next to come up and give a whack at the golem. Using her futuristic katana she slices in every which way possible leaving both the ice and the enemy in slices.

To top off the cake known as battle Nepgear jumps back and holds her gunblade out with the barrel facing the enemy.

"Multiple Beam Launcher! Hyaa!"

A massive orange beam shoot from her gunblade obliterating everything in its path. The impact leaves behind a large cloud combination of dust and smoke.

When the smoke finally clears up after about thirty seconds, not a single particle of the golem is left. It pains me to say this but I think we went too far.

The experience I gained from the fight advanced me three levels at least. Even so, everyone's avatars look worn out. We're only a short distance in the cave mind you. If every enemy is like this, then maybe we should return later once we level up a bit.

"Now… I see why the basilicom… didn't want to… handle this." Uni's breathes are ragged, and with good reason. The fight took a lot out of everyone.

"I say we should come back later. Preferably when fights with one monster don't take that long." Agreed Neptune, I agree completely.

"Ok." The rest of us said in unison.

We begin to walk back towards the entrance of the cave with deadly monsters. It'll be a while before we return but I'm sure we'll make it through next time. Holy hell we all need a break after this virtual fight.

Luckily there's a dance going on this Friday after the football game. I'm sure it'll be just what we need. So long as nothing unexpected happens. We can only hope for a night with no bullshit in the world.

**A/N: Again sorry faithful readers for the delay in updates. To be honest I was starting to think this story was a lost cause. But ever time my hopes get down someone new follows the story and renews me.**

**I'd really like it if you all would leave reviews and spread the word. And yes, the next few chapters are what you've all been waiting for. See you in the next update.**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Yadda Yadda Yadda"

That's all these teachers ever seem to say around here. It's only been a little more than three weeks now since High School started up and I'm already bored out of my mind. Even though science is my cup of tea, the study of cells is not.

At this rate I might truly die of boredom. I know High School isn't exactly supposed to be fun but this is ridiculous. The fourth period science class needs a savior… someone who can ask a completely unrelated question to ease the sorrows of everyone else.

"Ribosome's, can they be eaten?"

Our hero has come, Neptune we are forever in your debt. Usually a question like that would make me question the friends I have. However this is a special case, one in which my life was on the line.

As much as it pains me to say it I owe her one. I'll repay it later today at some point. Maybe I'll just give her my lunch as a way of saying "thanks for keeping me awake." The cafeteria certainly isn't serving anything satisfactory for a normal human being today.

Neptune isn't exactly normal so it should be a good fit with an abnormal meal. The class's laughter of her stupid comment is dying down now, which is a good thing because now I'm awake enough to get annoyed again.

"Sigh… No miss Neptune a ribosome cannot be consumed directly from the cell."

The remark to Neptune's comment causes her to slouch a bit and look saddened. This didn't last for long as she jumped back up perkier than usual five seconds later.

Behind my desk I can hear Noire laugh at Neptune and not in the bashful style of laugh either. No, this laugh seems more like a girly one. That raises the question more of if she's being true to herself.

Now I see why everyone called her a tsundere at the picnic last Saturday. It all makes sense now.

Enough of this masking emotions talk, I'm awake enough now I can full hear the teacher.

"After going through the endoplasmic reticulum, the proteins are then sent to the Golgi apparatus to be packaged and… oh it's eleven thirty. Ok class go to lunch now."

Closing up my binder I stand up from my desk and join Blanc in standing near the door. She gives me a light smile and looks the other way. Strange, usually I have to talk with her for quite a while before she smiles even a little bit.

Things are even weirder today than ever. Then again the dance is just around the corner. After giving a slight mention of it to my friends most of them were enthused. Blanc just saying ok, and Noire acting like she didn't want to go.

The rest as you could expect gave off a cheer so loud in the lunch room that we almost got suspended that day. Good times are what my future self will be saying. If only I could peer into the future.

Uni is the next to come up to us and soon after the other six follow. Now the gang's all here, we can finally get down to the lunchroom for a lunch that will require a stomach pump.

Today the cafeteria isn't all that crowded, due to some of the people going on a field trip. Less time in the line for us then.

On the menu today is… oh lord. Goulash.

First terribly incorrect orange chicken now goulash? Now I know the school is trying to kill me. It hurts even more that they're trying to be more culturally diverse.

There isn't an option really, I'll just have to play along. Hell this is the chance to give Neptune my lunch. Knowing her she'll eat it.

And now we're at the table we usually sit at. Same as always, same seating arrangement, same people talking. At least later today will be exciting.

"What is this?" The thing they call Goulash is nothing more than beef noodles. This isn't Goulash at all, it doesn't even taste remotely like it.

My theory about giving Neptune this today is correct. Somehow she's just munching on the unholy concoction.

"Hey Neptune, do you want this?"

"Mhm, I'll gladly take food off your hands. Thanks Jackie." No one has ever called me that and no one ever will. Jackie is a girls name any way.

Using her spoon to take the devils spawn off my elevated tray Neptune happily resumes her second lunch. That's better than usual I guess, one time I saw her eat fourth lunch. On the bright side now I don't have to stare at the Goulash anymore.

Another good part is now I can dump my tray earlier than everyone else to avoid a crowded garbage can. It wouldn't be too much trouble today since some of the people I eat with are out.

With the food out of the way I can utilize my brain fully. It happened too fast though because a new thought had entered my mind. Should Rom and Ram go to this dance?

Don't get me wrong dances here are a fun experience, however… some of the activities that go on at them such as what I named the "cesspool" might be too inappropriate for children their age.

In case you don't know what the cesspool is, it is when many of the dance attendee's get in a huge blob and hump each other regardless of gender. Personally I wouldn't have a problem whether it is a guy or a girl. I'll let you interpret what I mean.

It's none of my business, but maybe I should ask Blanc about it. She is their older sister after all.

"Blanc" I whisper. "Should Rom and Ram be going to this dance later?"

"Why wouldn't they, if anything bad comes along I'll beat it within an inch of its life. Besides… if I said they couldn't go they wouldn't stop bugging me about it."

I can see her point there, both of them are strong for their age. Not only that, but Blanc kill anything she deems bad for them. I'll take this as a sign that I'm alright in her book.

As far as everyone else is about the dance later can be varied. Neptune as you would expect is head over heels excited about a chance to get down and boogie. If only I shared her happy-go-lucky attitude.

Nepgear is a tad nervous but who wouldn't be? This is the first dance of the high school year. The only reason I know about what goes on here is Maurice mentioned it to me once. I'm sure she'll bounce back once she sees it's not so bad.

Noire doesn't seem to mind either way. I believe she said to us that it was a courtesy that she is going with us. Not like she actually cares right?

Uni is in much the same manner as Noire is in. Saying how I in particular should be grateful that she is attending. It appears the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

I've already mentioned vaguely what Blanc's opinion is, just going there to see what it's like probably. In all reality she's more than likely going to sit in one of the corners of the room or outside all night and read a book. It's better than some of the things that have happened I can guarantee it.

Rom and Ram are eager to go. As most of all little kids are they just want to grow up and prove they're grown up. If there's anything that'll accelerate the process it's a High School dance.

And finally Vert is waiting for the time of arrival as all of us are. To dance would be my first guess, but I honestly still can't read her, or any of them for that matter.

Sigh… it's barely been any time at all since lunch started and I'm already this bored. If the rest of the day is this slow I might be on the verge of death again. All I can do now is wait for the time of the dance.

* * *

Not much can be said right now. It's only ten minutes until dance time. The dance is being held after tonight's football game. Being band members we were forced to play.

Well… not all of us are in the band but we were able to qualify them. Neptune, Vert, Rom and Ram all volunteered to help the band out tonight by carrying stands and instrument cases.

The director saw fit to let them at least get into the game for free. Another benefit was they got to ride the band bus back to the school.

It's a shame that our team lost tonight but whatever. As much as it goes against my code of honor, the football team here sucks.

Dances do cheer people up after a tough loss though, as well as just bring overall joy to people. Mainly idiots who just want to get some quick pussy on the dance floor. Personally I hate people like that.

Women should be treated with utmost respect and not like a toy. Girls are gentle flowers no matter what their personality is. All must be given respect unless they are just a total bitch to you in the end.

In a way, you could say I'm going to the dance with eight people tonight. While that sounds like a dream come true for most guys it's bad.

No doubt all of them will want at least one dance with me. On top of that I will bet two of them at least will blush at the slightest thing I say. As I said before things are more unusual than they've been in three weeks.

I haven't said it before… but I'm nervous. Talking with them in school and playing an online game with them is one thing. Getting together for a practice once is in the category as well.

Even taking one of them out to lunch just to show them what the town they call home now has to offer is still on the list.

But this takes it to the next level. Sure I've gone out on an activity with all of them before. Believe me I still have the bruises to prove it. But that was just us, now people will see what we really are.

It sounds weird on account we all talk in school and sit together, but… I don't know how to describe it. I feel so weird just thinking about it, I've never felt this sensation.

Whatever it is I hope it lasts forever. I like spending time with my friends and in turn they make me feel this way. It's a warm and fizzy feeling on the inside. By now I sound like a whirlwind of emotions and can't keep a face for too long. But that's just how I role.

Anything that comes when I enter that door will happen, and I'll be prepared for whatever comes my way.

Hopefully I don't die from this, more than that though I hope that after tonight I'm still friends with them. Call it a hunch but I've got a bad feeling about this.

"Jack!"

The call Neptune gave me snaps me out of my trance. Her optimistic voice makes me forget what I was debating about in the first place. That's for the best, I could've sworn I was just eating my soul from the inside out.

"Come on dear, let's make haste and have a wonderful evening."

Vert's voice does have a calming effect I'll give it that. Now I really don't remember what I was debating about.

"Jack you dummy quit looking like that and smile."

My little friend's voice finally breaks all ties with pessimistic Jack for a while at least. Its times like this that I can truly appreciate them and how much they've broken me out of my shell.

"Alright, let's dance."

The largest smile I've made since knowing any of them is on my face. They've noticed as well and are glad to see me like this now.

Returning the smile back to me, my head turns forward and I walk through the doors to the dance area… with eight angels of mystery behind me.


End file.
